Congress pushes for defence shopping: AK Antony says Air Force needs more strength

India and Pakistan are on the verge of confrontation and even as India plans its next moves, Pakistan has been exercising defence moves with F-16 fighter jets .

New Delhi, September 24:  The Indian Air Force is facing a capacity crisis and former Defence minister of the UPA regime AK Antony, took out his trepidation in a press conference today. Speaking to the media, Antony said, “Now, Govt finally decided to buy 36Rafale fighter jets;is it enough? Sanctioned strength of IAF is 42 squadrons, availability is 32. Off late the security scenario has become more and more critical, volatile. Actually, now the Air Force needs more strength.”

This, of course, is a clear reference to the rising tensions between India and Pakistan after the dastardly terror attack struck Kashmir. The two countries are on the verge of confrontation and even as India plans its next moves, Pakistan has been exercising defence moves with F-16 fighter jets taking off from its highways in Islamabad. The Indian Airforce, however, as AK Antony pointed out, is short of ten squadrons of fighter jets. Every squadron comprises of 18 aircrafts and the Air force is in the dire need of 180 aircrafts. This is despite the fact that India’s is the fourth largest air force in the world.  (ALSO READ: India, France ink deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets )

AK Antony further expanded on the dire necessity that India is facing. He also expressed the plans that the UPA had for the ailing Air Force. Antony said, “By 2022, this strength will be reduced to 25 squadrons. How will the Govt equip the IAF with more aircrafts. What is their plan?During UPA’s time, it was decided to purchase 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircrafts to meet urgent op requirement of Air Force. As per the Indian Air Force, these 126 was the minimum for their urgent operational requirements considering the security scenario.”

The IAF today is in the process of a most comprehensive modernisation plan. All this come in the background of the purchase of  36 Rafale jets that India has inked with France. The historic Rafale deal could significantly bolster the combating capability of Indian Air Force (IAF), however, the gap in the number of squadrons to be filled would still remain significant. The 7.87 billion euros (Rs 59,000 crore) Rafale deal was finalised on Friday between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.

However, AK Antony expressed his problems with the purchase too. He said, “In our time, there were some imp requirements for finalising deal- 50% offset & we’ll buy 18 from abroad & 8 will be made in India.In our time, requirements for deal said 18 from abroad & 8 will be made in India; that condition is gone, ‘Make in India’ is gone.” (ALSO READ: Rafale fighter plane deal comes with 50 per cent offset clause)

The plan for the Air Force as of now is to  induct more Su-30 MKI aircraft, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). According to the Indian Air Force’s declaration, there are plans to augment the helicopter and transport fleets too. The IAF is also in the process of acquiring radars in various categories to meet the Air Defence requirements, accurate and advanced weapons, Network Centric Warfare systems, etc, to meet its assigned tasks.The fact, however,  remains that at nominally 36.5 squadrons, the Indian Air Force is well short of its sanctioned strength, and many of its frontline aircraft are obsolete.