AIR POWER Journal of Air Power and Space Studies Vol 4, No 3, Monsoon 2009 (July-September) AIR POWER CENTRE FOR AIR POWER STUDIES New Delhi AIR POWER is published quarterly by the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi, established under an independent trust titled Forum for National Security Studies registered in 2002 in New Delhi. Board of Trustees Shri M.K. Rasgotra, former Foreign Secretary and former High Commissioner to the UK Chairman Air Chief Marshal O.P. Mehra, former Chief of the Air Staff and former Governor Maharashtra and Rajasthan Smt. Indu Liberhan, Secretary (Defence Finance), Ministry of Defence (Ex-Officio) Shri K. Subrahmanyam, former Secretary Defence Production and former Director IDSA Dr. Sanjaya Baru, Media Advisor to the Prime Minister (former Chief Editor Financial Express) Captain Ajay Singh, Jet Airways, former Deputy Director Air Defence, Air HQ Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, former Director IDSA Managing Trustee AIR POWER Journal welcomes research articles on defence, military affairs and strategy (especially air power and space issues) of contemporary and historical interest. Articles in the Journal reflect the views and conclusions of the authors and not necessarily the opinions or policy of the Centre or any other institution. Editor-in-Chief Air Commodore Jasjit Singh AVSM VrC VM (Retd) Managing Editor Shri T. K. Mukherjee Distributor KW Publishers Pvt. Ltd. All correspondence may be addressed to Managing Editor AIR POWER P-284, Arjan Path, Subroto Park, New Delhi 110 010 Telephone: (91.11) 25699131-32 Fax: (91.11) 25682533 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.aerospaceindia.org © Centre for Air Power Studies All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission from the Director, Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi ISBN: 81-87966-30-0 AIR POWER Journal is published four times a year and is distributed by KW Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 4676/21, First Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002 Telefax: 23263498 e-mail: [email protected] Printed and Published by Air Cmde Jasjit Singh (Retd) on behalf of the Forum for National Security Studies (the Trust running the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi) and Printed by Rajkamal Electric Press, Plot No. 2, Phase IV, HSIIDC, Kundli 131028, Sonepat, Haryana and Published at P-284, Arjan Path, Subroto Park, New Delhi 110 010. Editor: Air Commodore Jasjit Singh (Retd). RNI REGN No. DELENG/2006/18450 CONTENTS Vol. 4, No. 3, Monsoon 2009 (July-September) Editor’s Note 1. NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR TESTS 1 In his article, North Korea’s Nuclear Tests and its implications for the nuclear non-proliferation regime, Shri Jayadeva Ranade has analysed some of its far-reaching ramifications beyond the brazen challenge to the US-led Six-Party Talks begun in 2003, introducing new dimensions into the talks. While the DPRK’s first test, conducted on October 9, 2006, had stunned the world, this latest test has changed the geo-political structure in Northeast Asia. By the time North Korea tests its long range Taepodong-II missile, it would have enlarged the arc of countries directly threatened by its capabilities to include parts of the USA. The two nuclear tests have together additionally graphically highlighted the dangers of the uncontrolled spread of nuclear weapons technology and programmes to unstable regimes and exposed the vulnerabilities of the nuclear non- proliferation regime ushered in by the USA in 1968. 2. SIX DECADES OF PEACEKEEPING 17 Wing Commander E.R. Rajappan in his survey of Six Decades of Peacekeeping by the UN concludes that while a great amount of effort has been put in by a large number of countries, the UN peacekeeping was limited to a mere 18 cases of conflict resolution during the Cold War in spite of over 100 major armed conflicts, with 32 million deaths, having affected the human race across the world. He ascribes a number of reasons for iii AIR POWER Journal Vol. 4 No. 3 MONSOON 2009 (July-September) Contents the poor record, mostly as a result of lack of consensus among the P-5. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of peacekeeping, greater cooperation and support by the powerful and rich nations, especially the members of the UN Security Council, need no underscoring. Meanwhile, the challenges ahead for the peacekeepers are getting more complex. 3. LOWERING THE HIGH GROUND FOR 53 EFFECT-BASED OPERATIONS Wing Commander Kaza Lalitendra in his study titled Lowering the High Ground for Effect-Based Operations, through the impact of technology on space exploitation for effect-based operations with new space vehicles, argues that we need to find the right synergistic mix of air, space, and near space capabilities to produce the battlefield effects our combat commanders need. Near space is, thus, the obvious and correct solution to the armed forces’ surveillance and communication needs, forming an additional layer of effects delivery medium between satellites and air-breathers and enhancing the survivability and redundancy of such battlespace awareness systems. 4. AWACS AND AEROSTATS: ROLES AND MISSIONS 91 Wing Commander A.B.S. Chaudhry in his study on AWACS and Aerostats: Roles and Missions examines the comparative advantages and limitations of airborne and ground-based radars. He concludes that airborne early warning systems provide better track histories by virtue of improved coverage against low flying aircraft, and, thus, provide a more reliable identification of tracks. The real answer to the tactical problems of air operations being executed at low levels lies in an integrated command and control system of which AEW systems constitute the key element. AWACS alone cannot win wars, it is has to be integrated with other interoperable war-fighting components and employed aggressively for optimal exploitation. AEW systems cannot replace the ground-based radar network due to their inherent limitations. This must, therefore, AIR POWER Journal Vol. 4 No. 3 MONSOON 2009 (July-September) iv Contents form a complementary, though increasingly important and indispensable element in the control, reporting and response system vital for conducting air operations in the modern environment. 5. THE EVOLUTION OF CRUISE MISSILE TECHNOLOGY 117 In a conceptual construct, Sitakanta Mishra argues in The Evolution of Cruise Missile Technology that to get an empirical notion on the evolution of a particular weapon system, one needs to establish an understanding of the “physical factors” required for effective weapons and the “psychological enabling factors” required for effectively employing these weapons. Because cruise missiles can strike targets at long ranges, it has been recognised that they can supplement or replace manned aircraft for many strategic missions. 6. REVIEW OF THE DEFENCE BUDGET 145 There has been much criticism in the recent decades in our country that the Parliament does not show any interest in, nor debates, the defence budget. Shri Amiya Kumar Ghosh, former Financial Adviser (Defence) in the Ministry of Defence, explains in his article on Review of the Defence Budget that the process is now gone into in much greater detail by a body of bipartisan members of the Parliament numbering nearly 45 who constitute the Standing Committee on Defence of the Parliament (established since 1993) who examine the budget in great detail and depth. He also proposes changes in the procedures and content to make the process serve national interests better. v AIR POWER Journal Vol. 4 No. 3 MONSOON 2009 (July-September) EDITOR’S NOTE The recent induction of the first Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) into the Indian Air Force (IAF) symbolises a great landmark not only in the capability in air warfare but also in the conceptual approach to air operations compared to two decades ago when a large segment of the leadership believed in the efficacy of low level radars and, hence, proposed greater importance for them in comparison to airborne early warning systems. So much so that two years after initiating an indigenous project to design and develop our own airborne early system by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (which remained under-funded and without any effort to establish collaboration with a foreign entity), the Ministry of Defence is believed to have told the visiting US Defence Secretary in late 1986 that India would have no problem if the US supplied such systems to Pakistan even under the questionable assumption that they were needed by Pakistan to intercept air violations by Afghan/Soviet aircraft targeting Afghan Mujahideen fighting the Kabul government on behalf of the US, with Pakistan as the frontline state! The induction of AWACS symbolises not only the transformation of the Air Force in technological terms but also points to the necessity to ensure the transformation of the mind of air warriors. In a way, AWACS has symbolised the high end of technology on one side and the fundamental changes in the vii AIR POWER Journal Vol. 4 No. 3 MONSOON 2009 (July-September) editor’S note nature of air warfare on the other. But we must remember that even as one of the major force multipliers of today and tomorrow, this cannot replace force. Many old and existing systems have to remain in place to ensure a total integrated capability if full advantage of the AWACS’ special attributes are to be fully exploited. Unfortunately, there has been a school of thought in the Air Force, which may still be lingering in some quarters, that with force multipliers available, we could do with a smaller force. But we need to consider that both of our neighbours and likely adversaries have already acquired such capabilities.