Indian Air Force – Now Ready and Future Ready

Today is Indian Air Force Day, felicitations to the IAF on reaching the 93^rd Founding Anniversary in a saga notched up by significant successes the most recent being Operation Sindoor.

In the run up to the Air Force Day today [08 October] Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh held an exhaustive Press Meet on 04 October 04 several facets of the IAF of what he named as the Now Ready or current operational readiness as well as Future Ready or preparing for the future.

As culled from the Transcript of the Air Chief’s media interaction obtained from ANI You Tube Channel some of the main facets are summarised below.

Now Ready

The Now Ready IAF is based on the lessons learnt during Operation Sindoor the cross border punitive air and missile strikes undertaken by the IAF and the Indian Army on the night of May 06/07 and subsequent operations in retaliation to Pakistan counter offensive till May 10.

On Operation Sindoor, he outlined how the Indian Air Force the [IAF] played a primary role in targeting two out of the nine identified terrorist camps which were deep inside Pakistan at Bahawalpur and Muridke.

Some of the lessons of these operations were identified as clarity of aim and swift conclusion indicating what the Air Chief called a swift resolution as opposed to the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. A “testament to our military strategy and operational effectiveness’” it was said.

This achievement was also in tandem with limited objectives of destruction of terrorist HQs and hubs unlike the Russian War in Ukraine or Israel’s multiple operations in the Middle East which have a more expansive aim and thus are not comparable.

As Pakistan Armed Forces launched a counter offensive role, the IAF in conjunction with the Indian Army could provide protection of military as well as civilian assets through, “advanced air defence infrastructure, integrated with assets from the Army, Navy, and the Indian Air Force,” which operated under a unified command in which the “newly procured long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs)” a reference to the Russian Air and Missile Defence system S 400 proved critical. The S 400 also facilitated the air force a deep look in the enemy territory and “achieved the longest kill at over 300 kilometres, a feat that will be recorded in history”.

Integration of the air and missile defence systems during Operation Sindoor was indeed an achievement which surprised many defence analysts at home and abroad.

On the offensive front, the IAF chief stated, that, “indigenously developed and integrated long-range weapons were deployed with high precision across a 1,200-kilometre border front, reaching targets over 200 kilometres inside enemy territory,” executed with minimal collateral damage forcing the adversary into submission through a single night of intensive operations.  

He compared these with 1971 operations which may be an exaggeration given the duration of the operations and the strategic outcomes achieved through Liberation of Bangladesh.

Apart from operations the HADR role of the IAF was also highlighted along with bilateral and multilateral military exercises and contribution to national space missions with Shubhanshu Shukla becoming the second Air Force officer to venture into space decades after Rakesh Sharma.

The Air Chief emphasised that Operation Sindoor reaffirmed the relevance of air power in modern conflict in terms of, “the speed, depth, and decisiveness with which air assets can achieve strategic objectives,” including “all platforms operating in the aerial domain, including those of the Army, Navy, and civil aviation”.

To be fair to the Air Chief he underlined at the very outset that Operation Sindoor was a joint operation of the Army, Navy and the Air Force integrated and operating under HQ Integrated Defence Staff headed by the Chief of Defence Staff.

Future Ready Air Force

On the transformation front given the changes in the character of warfare Air Chief Marshal A P Singh highlighted how the IAF is, “actively transforming into a multi-domain capable aerospace power, prepared to protect national interests across the full spectrum of conflict,” for which Vision 2047 has been developed.

The focus of Vision 2047 is indigenous capability development, with various aircraft and weapon programmes underway. In terms of combat fighters three were named – LCA Mark 1A, LCA Mark 2 and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). Prachand, Light Utility Helicopter or LUH and Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH) were identified in the helicopter domain with Medium Transport Aircraft programme being progressed.

In the weapons stream the IAF Chief identified the Astra AAM, next-generation Akash surface-to-air missile, Kusha long-range weapon, BrahMos, Pralay and Smart anti airfield ordnance.

Radars as Ashlesha, Arudhra and Ashwini were also under development. "We will move forward towards self-reliance but seek strategic technology to fill critical gaps quickly where required," Singh added.

In line with these objectives the Air Force is considering strategic partnerships to rapidly acquire and manufacture critical technologies within India, benefiting both operational capability and the domestic R&D sector in case the full indigenisation effort is delayed.

In addition, hand holding of domestic industries including the MSME sector is being carried out through the Directorate of Aerospace Design (DAD) which is providing guidance and support for emerging and organisations to advance, with a strong focus on the development of indigenous products. “Considerable progress is being made in this direction, with ongoing initiatives aimed at promoting self-reliance in the aerospace sector,” as per the IAF chief.

“The Indian Air Force is working towards achieving this balance, aligning with the broader vision for India's air defence system as articulated by the Honourable Prime Minister, including the concept of the Sudarshan Chakra. The three services – Army, Navy, and Air Force – have collaborated closely with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to initiate the development of an integrated defence system networked through the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS), which will serve as the central element,” stated the Air Chief.

The Sudarshan Chakra system will incorporate all necessary components to ensure a holistic and robust defence network. It is being designed to meet the three key criteria of testing, operational employment, and future-readiness.

As per ACM Singh, as demonstrated during Operation Sindoor, future conflicts will require an integrated approach, not just among the three defence services but also involving other agencies such as the DRDO and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs). It is essential to apply the lessons learned from Operation Sindoor, identifying both areas of strength and those needing improvement, to further enhance collective capabilities and ensure preparedness for future challenges.

In response to the media questions the IAF Chief highlighted that the Air Force anticipated the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) AMCA to be flown within this decade by 2028 and inducted and operationalised in the IAF by 2035.

ACM AP Singh believed that this was possible as considerable experience has been built in this for the past many years. In addition, a new acquisition model to include private industry has also been adopted for development of India’s fifth generation fighter.

In terms of options for acquisition of fighters from other countries such as SU 57, the Ministry of Defence and the IAF are going through the process of assessment and will come to a suitable conclusion which could not necessarily be in terms of any specific platform or generation of fighter aircraft thus laying open the scope for others such as Rafale as well.  

Technology sharing is expected to be one of the key criteria as was evident from the Air Chiefs words.

On being questioned on theaterisation the IAF Chief appeared to be more positive than what has been interpreted from his remarks in the past wherein he indicated that jointmanship is progressing well and the organisational structures are presently undergoing discussions as a process of brain storming. The objective was as per ACM AP Singh to evolve the best possible organisation suiting the India operational environment rather than replicating that of other militaries.

 As far as making up of the combat fighter strength of the IAF in the future, without going into the numbers of 42 squadrons or more, the Chief highlighted that there would be a requirement of production of at least two squadrons per year to cope up with the IAF’s dwindling fighter strength that is approximately 30 to 40 fighters.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd [HAL] plans to build up the capacity of LCA series to approximately 32 fighters per year, though at present this does not appear realistic. Thus, a parallel foreign industry-based aircraft line may appear inevitable.

On the upgraded Su 30 MKI programme the IAF chief was sanguine that the process was in place and will progress apace.  

On unmanned aircraft development for the future, the IAF Chief indicated that world over air forces were looking at advanced manned aircraft such as the sixth-generation fighter programmes of the United States and others, thus unmanned combat fighters will not replace manned systems. The development of UAVs such as the Ghatak by the DRDO is expected to continue in parallel.  Manned unmanned teaming would also be on the horizon.

"At the moment, there are three or four major programs which are going on in the world, which they are calling the Sixth Gen Aircraft Program, NGAD, other different names. Now, all of them are manned. The importance of man, as of now, as I can see in the foreseeable future, is not going to fade away," he said giving an overview of the IAF plans of the same.

"There will be unmanned systems. But those unmanned systems have to work in collaboration with the manned system or have to be controlled by a man. So, the relevance of fighters will remain in the years to come," Air Chief Marshal Singh added.

The LCA Mark 2 will remain relevant despite the development of the AMCA planned by the IAF it will be an extension of the Mark 1 A and is in the medium range thus a larger more capable platform with multi role capabilities. In case the LCA Mk 2 is developed in time the Air Chief stated that the Mark 1 A programme could be terminated, and shift would be to the latter version.

On development of the trainer aircraft, the IAF chief highlighted that there was a need for the same and till HAL HTT-40 is delivered amendment to training had been carried out thereby ensuring that the pilots remain on stream.