AIR POWER AND NATIONAL SECURITY Indian Air Force: Evolution, Growth and Future AIR POWER AND NATIONAL SECURITY Indian Air Force: Evolution, Growth and Future Air Commodore Ramesh V. Phadke (Retd.) INSTITUTE FOR DEFENCE STUDIES & ANALYSES NEW DELHI PENTAGON PRESS Air Power and National Security: Indian Air Force: Evolution, Growth and Future Air Commodore Ramesh V. Phadke (Retd.) First Published in 2015 Copyright © Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi ISBN 978-81-8274-840-8 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, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without first obtaining written permission of the copyright owner. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, or the Government of India. Published by PENTAGON PRESS 206, Peacock Lane, Shahpur Jat, New Delhi-110049 Phones: 011-64706243, 26491568 Telefax: 011-26490600 email: [email protected] website: www.pentagonpress.in Branch Flat No.213, Athena-2, Clover Acropolis, Viman Nagar, Pune-411014 Email: [email protected] In association with Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses No. 1, Development Enclave, New Delhi-110010 Phone: +91-11-26717983 Website: www.idsa.in Printed at Avantika Printers Private Limited. This book is dedicated to the memory of my parents, Shri V.V. Phadke and Shrimati Vimal Phadke, My in-laws, Brig. G.S. Sidhu, AVSM and Mrs. Pritam Sidhu, Late Flg. Offr. Harita Deol, my niece, who died in an Avro accident on December 24, 1996, Late Flt. Lt. Sandeep Jain, another niece’s husband, who was shot down by a Pakistani missile in Siachen on August 26, 1996, To all the past and future air warriors of the Indian Air Force. Contents Acknowledgements xi 1. Introduction 1 2. Nature of Air Power 8 Air Power Definitions 9 Air Power Attributes 10 Ability to Overfly Natural Obstacles 11 Flexibility/Agility 12 Ubiquity 12 Concentration of Firepower 13 Shock Effect 13 Limitations 14 Impermanence 14 Limited Weapons Load 15 Fragility 15 Weather 15 Dependence on Basing Facilities 15 High Acquisition and Life Cycle Costs 16 Terrain 16 Historical Background 17 World War I (1914-18) 18 Inter War-Years (1918-39) 21 World War II (1939-45) 22 The Indian Experience 25 Air Power Employment: Roles and Missions 27 3. Evolution of India’s National Security Practice 41 Definitions 43 Evolution of India’s National Security Thinking 45 viii Air Power and National Security The Security Discourse 47 India’s Experience at the UN: Lessons 59 The Sino-Indian Border Conflict 65 Indo-Pak War, 1965 71 The Bangladesh War, 1971 72 Operation Blue Star, 1984 74 Exercise Brasstacks, 1986-87 74 Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, July 1987-March 1990 75 Kargil Conflict, May-July 1999 76 Fighting Insurgencies and Terrorism 77 Why a National Security Strategy? 78 4. Airpower Employment: Lessons from the Past 89 India-Pakistan War in Jammu and Kashmir, 1947-48 89 Need for Infrastructure 90 The Sino-Indian Conflict, 1962 92 Indo-Pak War, 1965 97 Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971 104 Sri Lanka, 1987-90 111 Maldives, 1988 111 Kargil, 1999 112 Air Power Lessons from Other Wars 114 Conclusion 127 5. Development of IAF Force Structures 130 Early Developments 130 IAF in Independent India 134 War Intervenes 136 Threat Assessment 137 Dependence on Outside Advice 139 New Acquisitions 141 Initial Consolidation and Reorganisation 142 More Aircraft Join the IAF 144 HF-24 Marut 147 Expansion of Capabilities 151 Search for the Advanced Jet Trainer 153 New Challenges 154 Conclusion 155 6. The Indian Air Force Today 161 The Never Ending Process of Modernisation 161 The Pakistan Threat 163 The China Threat 163 Prospects of Modernisation 164 The Challenge 166 Contents ix Air Defence 169 Counter Air and Deep Strike Operations 169 Counter Surface Force Operations 170 Force Multipliers 170 IAF Modernisation: Work in Progress 173 7. The Future of Air Power in India 181 Introduction 181 The Current Air Power Balance 183 Force Structures 183 Airborne Weapon Systems 185 Air Defence 186 Support Platforms 186 UAVs/UCAVs 187 Missiles 188 Aerostats 190 Use of Near Space 190 LEMVs 191 Solar and Renewable Energy Platforms 191 End of Fossil Fuel/Alternative Fuels or Energy Sources 191 Conclusion 192 8. Perspectives on Some Important Issues Influencing Air Power Employment 194 Introduction 194 Human Resource Development or Personnel Planning 194 Recruitment and Retention 201 Maintenance 203 Trade Restructuring 204 Flight Safety 205 Understanding Defence Budgets 210 India’s Defence Industry 216 Defence Research and Development Organisation 219 Military Reforms and Civil-Military Relations 222 Ownership of Air Power 228 The Nuclear Dimension 231 Understanding Doctrine 236 Conclusion 239 9. Findings and Recommendations 244 APPENDICES I Indian Air Force Squadrons and Units 263 II The Gnat Story 268 x Air Power and National Security III The MiG-21 Story 272 IV Defence Budgets 276 V Air Maintaining the Indian Army and Civilians in the Himalayan Frontier Region 280 VI Air Defence of the Srinagar Valley – 1971 284 VII Author’s Note 289 Select Bibliography 303 Index 308 Contents xi Acknowledgements This book has been in the works for considerable time, delayed due to family ill health, bereavements, my own indifferent health and other domestic issues. Many friends, colleagues and mentors, in and outside the Indian Air Force, have given me guidance and support. Late Air Cmde. Jasjit Singh, former Director of Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS); late Professor Matin Zuberi and my school teacher Shri Manohar Parnerkar continue to inspire me in the pursuit of my study of India’s security. Late Brig. G.S. Sidhu, AVSM, my father-in-law, the Brigade Major of the 7th Brigade, from 1959 when it moved from Ambala to Bomdi La until early 1962, and an active participant in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, gave me immense first-hand information about the real state of affairs in the army during his long service. AVM Kapil Kak, former Deputy Director, IDSA, Dr. Arvind Gupta, former Director General, IDSA, Brig. Rumel Dahiya (Retd.), Deputy Director General, IDSA and Lt. Gen. V.R. Raghavan (Retd.) have played an important role in the publication of this book through their patience, advice and encouragement. Air Marshals Randhir Singh, P. Rajkumar, S.G. Inamdar, Narayan Menon, Raghu Rajan, B.K. Pande and AVM H.S. Ahluwalia provided me with valuable guidance and information. Air Marshal M. Matheswaran assisted in enhancing my understanding of recent developments in the Indian Air Force. Gp. Capt. Ajit Agtey (Retd.), a friend of over four decades and a passionate flyer, continues to be a veritable treasure trove of information and knowledge and has always readily and generously shared it with me. I also thank Professors Rajaram Nagappa, Chandrashekhar and Nabil Mancheri of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore for their valuable advice. Professor K.R. Singh, Dr. Rajaram Panda and senior colleagues and friends xii Air Power and National Security at IDSA, now professors at JNU, Drs. Rajesh Rajagopalan, Swaran Singh, and P.R. Kumaraswamy, deserve my sincere thanks. I thank my friends at IDSA, Gp. Capt. Vivek Kapur, Brigs. Raj Shukla, Harinder Singh and Col. Deepak Sharma who have since returned to active duty and Drs. Rajiv Nayan, S. Kalyanaraman, Ashok Behuria, Smruti Pattanaik, Laxman Behera and Uttam Sinha, and many others from whom I learnt a lot during my second stint at IDSA. Gp. Capt. (Dr.) Ajey Lele and Dr. Prashant Kumar Singh of the IDSA took time to read through the draft and gave me very valuable suggestions. A word of special thanks to Ms. Sumita Kumar and Mr.Vivek Kaushik of IDSA for their editorial assistance and insightful comments that have helped reduce inaccuracies. I am indeed grateful to Shri Mukesh Kumar, Shri Pitamber Datt, and other staff members of the IDSA library for their timely and cheerful assistance. Finally, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my family: my son Akshay, himself a fighter pilot; daughter Aarohi an artist and an MA in History from Hindu College; and my wife Dr. P. Sidhu Phadke, a graduate of the Lady Harding Medical College, New Delhi, a true healer and author of four books for their unstinted and selfless support and encouragement. While I have made every effort to be as accurate and impartial as possible, I am responsible for any errors or omissions. Ramesh V. Phadke 1 Introduction Air power has been around for over a century and is not new to India. India’s first experience with aviation was when a flying display was staged at Allahabad Polo Grounds on December 10, 1910,1 just seven years after the first flight of the Wright Brothers’ heavier-than-air machine, at Kitty Hawk on the eastcoast of the United States (US) on December 17, 1903. In response to the nationalist demands for ‘Indianisation’ of the military, the Indian Air Force (IAF) came into being on October 8, 1932 with a single flight of eight Westland Wapiti bi-planes. It slowly but steadily grew to become the fourth largest air force in the world in terms of number of personnel and aircraft. Yet, the IAF is in no way as advanced as many of the smaller yet more potent air forces of the Western world. In fact, until the 1990s, it remained largely tactical, with limited range armaments equipped only with the first and second generation aircraft. As a result, its capabilities were at best modest and yet it proved to be a decisive factor in the wars that were imposed on India.2 The very limited assets of the fledgling IAF were successfully used within weeks of India becoming independent to help evict the mujahideen (tribal raiders) that Pakistan sent to ‘liberate’ the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).