IV/2019 Aerospace & Defence Review Paris Air Show 2019 JF-17s at Le Bourget Flankers over France ‘Exercise Anatolian Eagle’ Chandrayaan-2 NATO Tiger Meet ELECTRONICS & DEFENSE OBSERVE, DECIDE, GUIDE INTELLIGENCE ONBOARD PEMA 2M © Safran - ESO / L.Calçada / Daniel Linares - © Safran - ESO / L.Calçada Daniel Linares SAFRAN ELECTRONICS & DEFENSE, INTELLIGENCE ONBOARD Day after day, you face critical challenges. The products and services developed by Safran Electronics & Defense, whether civil or military, deliver the technological superiority, effectiveness, reliability and competitiveness you expect. We’re with you every step of the way, building in the intelligence that gives you a critical advantage in observation, decision-making and safran-electronics-defense.com guidance. You can count on Safran Electronics & Defense, your strategic : @SafranElecDef partner on land, at sea, in the air and in space. safran_IntelEmbarque215x280_VA.indd 1 01/07/2019 08:59 IV/2019 IV/2019 Aerospace & Defence Review Chandrayaan-2 Paris Air This article by Alan Warnes, reproduced 22 32 with special permission, gives an update launched Show 2019 on the JF-17 programme, with arguably successfully a lot of development being carried on, both at Kamra and Chengdu. Meanwhile the Thunder Block 3 is on the cusp of series production, with new Paris Air Show 2019 JF-17s at Le Bourget avionics, radar and BVR missiles being Flankers over France ‘Exercise Anatolian Eagle’ identified. Chandrayaan-2 NATO Tiger Meet The Vayu editorial team were on-the- spot at Le Bourget during the 53rd Cover : PAF JF-17 Thunder at ‘Exercise edition of this mega biennial event 60 Thunders at Anatolian Eagle’. Photo : Onur Kurc and where the future of aviation technology ‘Exercise Anatolian Tayfun Yasar was on clear display. The European New Generation Fighter (NGF) heralded Eagle’ the future while the present, in shape of Dassault’s Rafale was evidenced in the air during flight demonstrations. EDITORIAL PANEL The only other fighter type flying MANAGING EDITOR at the Show was the Sino-Pakistani Vikramjit Singh Chopra JF-17 Thunder, even as present and future programmes of Boeing, Airbus, EDITORIAL ADVISOR Embraer and the Japanese were in Admiral Arun Prakash much evidence. Virtually as ‘stop press’, pride of EDITORIAL PANEL place in this Issue of Vayu is given to Of Special Interest Cover story : there were a lot of JF- Pushpindar Singh Chandrayaan-2, India’s most ambitious 39 17s outside Pakistan in June 2019. Air Marshal Brijesh Jayal space programme, launched on 23 July (to Indian eyes) Apart from the three fighters from 2019, whose essential mission is to Dr. Manoj Joshi No.2 Squadron at the Paris Air Show, insert a Lander (Vikram) on the south Lt. Gen. Kamal Davar there were five from No.28 Squadron polar region of the moon and then exercising in the Central Anatolia Lt. Gen. BS Pawar deploy its Rover (Pragyan). Hopefully Air Marshal M. Matheswaran the next Vayu issue will record for Gp Capt JC Malik posterity India’s imprint on this celestial Cdr M Nirmal body. Nitin Konde Sayan Majumdar 26 Flankers over Sameer Joshi France Richard Gardner (UK) Reuben Johnson (USA) Bertrand de Boisset (France) Continuing its coverage of the Dr Nick Evesenkin (Russia) Paris Air Show, the Vayu editorial rd Tamir Eshel (Israel) Region of Turkey at Konya. [3 Main team have focused on matters of Jet Base] The Thunders were exercising ADVERTISING & MARKETING MANAGER particular interest to Indian readers, alongside many different combat particularly opportunities which HAL Husnal Kaur aircraft types, largely from Turkey itself should well have taken and a study in but also the US, Jordan, Italy and Qatar. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER contrast between India’s PSU and the Premjit Singh neighbouring Pakistan Aeronautical Complex which has jointly developed Also: ‘Defending India’: Urgent the JF-17 Thunder with the Chinese and Modernisation Imperatives; 20 years During the first two weeks of July 2019, are vigorously exporting these. after Kargil 1999; PN’s Sea Eagle sixth edition of the Garuda series of MPA; Astral Knight 2019; F-35s on UBLISHED Y exercise between the Indian Air Force P B extended deployment; The Marina and its French counterpart Armee de Vayu Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. Thunder at Militare; NATO Tiger Meet 2019; l’Air was held at Mont de Marsan air 44 E-52, Sujan Singh Park, Le Bourget Air Force of El Salvador. base in southern France. In sending New Delhi 110 003 India four Sukhoi Su-30MKIs, an interesting Tel: +91 11 24617234 “contest” was witnessed between this Fax: +91 11 24628615 formidable Russian-origin fighter and Regular features : e-mail: [email protected] their soon to be brothers-in-arms, Commentary, Opinion, Viewpoint, e-mail: [email protected] the French-developed Dassault Rafale Aviation & Defence in India, World (exclusive article and pictures from Aviation & Defence News, Ancient Stephan van Geem, Patrick Smitshoek Aviator Anecdotes, Vayu 25 Years Back, Printed at Aegean Offset Printers and Remco Stalenhoef). Tale Spin. The opinions expressed in the articles published in the Vayu Aerospace & Defence Review do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Publishers. Follow us on @ReviewVayu Visit us at: www.vayuaerospace.in C O M M E N T A R Y ultimate tool, is it well honed? It is good that national security has Restructuring India’s Armed Forces become an electoral issue, but if the concern does not endure after votes ith the din of elections over and India having a new are won, it will be the last time one will see the issue at centrestage. Wgovernment, there could not be a more opportune time That will jeopardise the nation’s security. for the new dispensation to ensure that important pointers from Fourth, Pakistan’s nuclear bluff has been called, but has catapulted transborder actions like Balakot do not get obliterated but are acted India such that it can no longer be seen as a soft State. For this perception upon — after all, they give an even handed political heft to all. It to last, India will need to equip, modernise and restructure the armed could indeed serve as an outline of a blueprint for the future. forces post-haste for 21st century warfare to credibly deter Pakistan and First, while it was heartening to see everyone praise the Indian dissuade China from aggression, while gradually building its potential. Air Force after Balakot, the bitter war of chest-thumping and Lt Gen (Retd.) Yash Malhotra in Hindustan Times credit capturing between political parties that followed, with some even questioning whether the strike had taken place at all, was most unfortunate. Such events do propel security dialogue to India as new US ‘ally’ ? the forefront, but military operations remain the preserve of the n an acknowledgement of India’s growing ties with the United government for ordering them and the armed forces for carrying IStates, the US Senate passed a bill that puts the South Asian power them out. They cannot be politicised by any political party claiming in the same bracket as Washington’s NATO allies, Japan, Australia and ownership to garner votes or worse, glorification of personalities. South Korea. As a non-NATO ally, New Delhi may soon benefit from This has grave ramifications. It distorts the apolitical fibre of our fast-tracking of the sale of US military hardware to this country, once armed forces and is a dangerous portent for national security. Let various foundational and security agreements are in place. our political brethren not forget that apolitical armed forces are the The bill will go into effect after it is endorsed by the House of strongest support to the edifice of democracy. Representatives, and ahead of that final seal of approval, the US defence Second, while the government’s decision to strike and effectively secretary is required to lay out the details of the extent of military combat Pakistan retaliation was the right one, between 2015 cooperation between the two militaries, both in training and operations, and 2018, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Nagrota and Sunjuwan terror particularly in the western Indian Ocean as much as the Indo-Pacific. attacks went without a response and accountability. Is there an This is where China’s growing footprint poses a challenge for New institutionalised decision making mechanism in place at all? India Delhi as much as it does for Washington. is perhaps the only major democracy where the armed forces That, and China’s open espousal of Pakistan’s cause, which challenges headquarters are outside the apex governmental structure and, India’s writ in South Asia as well as in Afghanistan, where India has therefore, not institutionally part of the decision making process. invested in goodwill as much as infrastructure to keep a line open into It is imperative that we have an Act of Parliament which mandates Central Asia via Iran’s Chabahar port, was clearly the driving force behind the creation of a permanent Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), thereby India allowing itself to be drawn into Washington’s embrace. But will making the armed forces a part of the decision making mechanism New Delhi have enough room to breathe, to manouevre? And does it for cogent single point military advice to the government. It must be want to be built up as a counterweight to China, to be Washington’s underlined that the Defence Planning Committee recently created cat’s paw in the region? under the chairmanship of National Security Adviser (NSA) has Clearly, the strategic shift that began under Atal Behari Vajpayee been established through an administrative order and thus remains that saw Delhi shed its antipathy to allying with Washington after unaccountable to Parliament. But it cannot replace the idea of a years of being seen as a Soviet ally, and under Dr Manmohan Singh’s permanent CDS created by statute.