SPECIAL ISSUE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDIAN AIR FORCE SP’s AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION Aviation 100.00 (INDIA-BASED BUYER ONLY) BUYER 100.00 (INDIA-BASED Sharp Content for Sharp Audience ` www.sps-aviation.com vol 20 ISSUE 9 • SEptEmbEr • 2017 MILITARY: INDIA's NEw DEFENCE mINIStER P11 / INDIA & Us: NEw phASE IN DEFENCE pARTNERSHIP P14 / TRIBUTE tO AN ICON P16 CHALLENGES BEFORE THE INDIAN AIR FORCE TÊTE-À-TÊTE wIth ChIEF OF thE AIR sTAFF AIR ChIEF mARSHAl b.S. DhANOA P21 / CHALLENGEs bEFORE thE IAF P25 / CHALLENGEs IN thE NORth EASt P27 / FORMAtION OF spACE COmmAND P29 / WOmEN IN INDIAN AIR FORCE P32 / LASt wORD: SELECt thE RIGHT COMBAt PLATFORm P40 CIVIL AIRPORTs: OVER-lOADED hUBs P4; REGIONAl AVIAtION: { bIg OR smALL, sAFETY Is UTMOSt P6 & LEt's gO DUTCH! 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Leading the Situational Awareness Revolution table of contents vol 20 ISSUE 9 • SEptEmbEr • 2017 SPECIAL ISSUE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDIAN AIR FORCE SP’s AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION Aviation 100.00 (INDIA-BASED BUYER ONLY) BUYER 100.00 (INDIA-BASED Sharp Content for Sharp Audience ` www.sps-aviation.com vol 20 ISSUE 9 • SEptEmbEr • 2017 MILITARY: INDIA's NEw DEFENCE mINIstER P11 / INDIA & Us: NEw phAsE IN DEFENCE pARTNERSHIP P14 / TRIBUtE tO AN ICON P16 CHALLENGES BEFORE THE INDIAN AIR FORCE têtE-À-TÊTE wIth ChIEF OF thE AIR sTAFF AIR ChIEF mARshAl b.S. DhANOA P21 / CHALLENGEs bEFORE thE IAF P25 / CHALLENGEs IN thE NORth EASt P27 / FORMAtION OF spACE COmmAND P29 / WOmEN IN INDIAN AIR FORCE P32 / LASt wORD: SELECt thE RIght COMBAt plATFORm P40 CIVIL AIRPORTs: OVER-lOADED hUbs P4; REgIONAl AVIAtION: { bIg OR smAll, sAFETY Is UtmOSt P6 & lEt's gO DUtCh! P9 { RNI NUMBER: DELENG/2008/24199 COVER IMAGE: Indian Air Force is celebrating its 85th anniversary on “THE IAF IS PREPARED 24X7 FOR ANY THREAT AND IS READY FOR A BEFITTING RESPONSE IN ANY CONTINGENCY. THE IAF HAS ALREADY PROPOSED A ROADMAP FOR INDUCTION OF FIGHTER AIRCRAFT October 8, 2017. TO BUILD UP TO THE SANCTIONED STRENGTH OF 42 FIGHTER SQUADRONS AND ALSO MODERNISATION. AUGMENTING THE STRENGTH OF OUR FIGHTER SQUADRON IS OUR TOP PRIORITY. TO ACHIEVE THIS, THE Cover Design by: IAF IS LOOKING AT NEW INDUCTIONS AND MID-LIFE UPGRADES.”— AIR CHIEF MARSHAL B.S. DHANOA SP’s Design CIVIL 27 Challenges PAGE 21 4 Airports Challenges in the North East INTERVIEW Over-Loaded Hubs 29 New Command Regional Aviation Formation of Space Command 6 Big or Small, Safety is Utmost OEM “READY TO FACE 9 Let’s Go Dutch! 31 F/A-18 Super Hornet: Multi-role CHALLENGES” Advanced Fighter for Navy and Air Force On the occasion of the 85th Anniversary MILITARY 34 KC-46A Tanker – More Capable, of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Efficient, Versatile 11 Change of Guard Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, PVSM Lady at the Helm of Affairs 32 Human Resources AVSM YSM VM ADC, Chief of the Air Staff, 14 Diplomacy Women in Indian Air Force spoke to SP’s Aviation India & US: New Phase in Defence Partnership REGULAR Tribute DEPARTMENTS 16 Tribute to an Icon 3 A Word from Editor-in-Chief Awards 2017 18 ‘No war can be won without the 13 News with Views SPECIAL Air Force’ Indo-US Defence Cooperation CONTRIBUTION TO BUSINESS AVIATION IAF SPECIAL 35 Hall of Fame 20 Message Indra Lal Roy (1898-1918) NEXT ISSUE Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, IAF Chief 36 News Digest 25 Operations 40 Last Word NBAA Special Challenges Before the IAF Select the Right Combat Platform www.sps-aviation.com ISSUE 9 • 2017 1 table of contents PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SALES & MARKETING 11 Lady at the Helm of Affairs Jayant Baranwal General Manager Sales: Rajeev Chugh SENIOR EDITOR SP’S WEBSITES Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd) Sr Web Developer: Shailendra P. Ashish ASSISTANT GROUP EDITOR Web Developer: Ugrashen Vishwakarma R. Chandrakanth © SP Guide Publications, 2017 DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR Neetu Dhulia SUBSCRIPTION/ CIRCULATION Annual Inland: `1,200 • Foreign: US$320 SENIOR TECHNICAL GROUP EDITOR E-mail: [email protected] Lt General Naresh Chand (Retd) [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS LETTER TO EDITOR INDIA [email protected] Group Captain A.K. Sachdev (Retd) [email protected] Group Captain Joseph Noronha (Retd) EUROPE FOR ADVERTISING DETAILS, CONTACT: Alan Peaford [email protected] USA & CANADA [email protected] LeRoy Cook SP GUIDE PUBLICATIONS PVT LTD 4 Over-Loaded Hub Airports CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR A-133 Arjun Nagar Jayant Baranwal (Opposite Defence Colony) New Delhi 110003, India. PLANNING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Executive Vice President: Rohit Goel Tel: +91 (11) 24644693, ADMIN & COORDINATION 24644763, 24620130 Bharti Sharma Fax: +91 (11) 24647093 E-mail: [email protected] ASST – ADMIN, HR & INFRA Pooja Tehlani REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE DESIGN BENGALURU, INDIA Holistic Directions: Jayant Baranwal 204, Jal Vayu Vihar, Kalyan Nagar Creative Director: Anoop Kamath Bengaluru 560043, India. Designers: Vimlesh Kumar Yadav, Tel: +91 (80) 23682204 Sonu Singh Bisht MOSCOW, RUSSIA Designer (3D animation): Kunal Verma LAGUK Co., Ltd., (Yuri Laskin) Research Assistant: Graphics Krasnokholmskaya, Nab. Survi Massey 11/15, app. 132, Moscow 115172, Russia. DIRECTOR: SALES & MARKETING Tel: +7 (495) 911 2762 Neetu Dhulia Big or Small, Fax: +7 (495) 912 1260a 6 Safety is Utmost MEMBER OF: FOLLOW US ON Owned, published and printed by Jayant Baranwal, printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt Ltd and published at A-133, Arjun Nagar (Opposite Defence Colony), New Delhi 110003, India. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, photocopying, recording, electronic, or otherwise without prior written permission of the Publishers. APPLIED FOR WWW.SPGUIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM 2 ISSUE 9 • 2017 www.sps-aviation.com A word from editor-in-chief AIR CHIEF MARSHAL B.S. DHANOA, CHIEF OF THE AIR STAFF, HAS ASSURED THE NATION THAT THE IAF IS ALWAYS READY TO PROVIDE SWIFT RESPONSE IN ANY CONTINGENCY ESTABLISHED ON OCTOBER 8, 1932, the Indian Air Force issue of SP’s Aviation carries a number of articles delving into (IAF) is celebrating its 85th anniversary this month. Equipped what needs to be done to equip the IAF to be capable to con- initially with just four Westland Wapiti piston engine bi-planes, front challenges it may be called upon to face in the future. In in its glorious journey of the last eight and a half decades, the this issue, Pratyush Kumar of Boeing India elaborates on two organisation has grown to be the fourth largest among the Air platforms aiming to meet the critical needs of India – F/A-18 Forces in the world. Since the nation achieved independence in Super Hornet and KC-46A Pegasus FRA. 1947, the IAF has been involved in three major military con- A major event in September this year that has been flicts with the hostile neighbour Pakistan and has emerged with described as a “Master Stroke” by Prime Minister Narendra flying colours each time. In peacetime, it has always been in the Modi, has been the appointment of Nirmala Sitharaman as forefront in disaster management. The IAF has truly lived up full time Minister of Defence. While this appointment is seen to its motto of ‘Nabha Sparsham Deeptam’ or ‘Touch the Sky to be reflecting Prime Minister Modi’s perspective of prefer- with Glory’, a philosophy derived from a dialogue between Lord ring “Performance” over Politics”, it has been described as Krishna and Arjun during Mahabharat, as recorded in Chapter “A breath of fresh air” by Air Chief Marshal Fali Major, for- XI of the Bhagavad Gita. On this glorious occasion, we at SP mer CAS. While there are a number of formidable challenges Guide Publications offer felicitations to all personnel of the IAF. before the new incumbent, for the IAF, there is now renewed Tragically, the IAF lost an iconic figure three weeks before hope of its modernisation programme moving forward at the the anniversary on September 16 with the sad demise at the required pace. age of 98, of Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh. He All this and more in this issue of SP’s Aviation dedicated to Ewill always be remembered for his outstanding professionalism, the IAF on the occasion of its 85th anniversary. The issue does exceptional leadership and the yeomen service he rendered in cater to our civil aviation fraternity with some of the key issues the critical years towards growth of the IAF as a combat force. and a case study with reference to a subsidiary of KLM airlines. We at SP’s offer our heartfelt Salutations to the Marshal for his Welcome aboard and wish our readers happy landings! incredible contributions to nation. In his infinitely inspiring message on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the IAF that leads this issue of SP’s Aviation, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, Chief of the Air Staff, while acknowledging the contribution by Air Warriors, past and present, to national security both in peace and war, has also highlighted the formidable challenges that lie ahead for the nation and the IAF. In his interview on the occasion of the 85th anniversary, the CAS has unequivocally assured the nation that the IAF is always ready to provide swift response in any contin- gency whether in war or peace.