ks_sachin wrote:The issue is that there are enough officers who are of the 80s and even earlier who will attest to the importance of being self-reliant. A lot of them who are seniors and at AHQ understand the unique challenges. Some are recently retired and some retired a while ago. I am not for a moment saying that things are hunky-dory and the need for the hours is an institutional change in attitudes.
How many of them come out to argue for change? To push the air force towards modernization via local platforms? Apart from the current lot of 80s commissioned serving officers, I have seen a number of the retired batch also argue for 114 MRFA. Some of the retired names that come to mind are;
1) Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar
2) Air Marshal Anil Khosla
3) Air Marshal SBP Sinha
4) Air Marshal SB Deo
5) Air Marshal Anil Chopra
6) Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur
This is the short list. There are many more. With the exception of Number 1, none of the others have even bothered to speak or write about the Tejas, apart from criticisms which is not even constructive or real. Not a single one. They are living productive retired lives alright and getting a nice pension. And you hit the nail on the head - it is their training that sets them apart. And they have been trained to import. That is all they know. Silence is guilty by association indeed Sir. Their silence is golden and criminal.
It is ironic that an officer who retired in 2004 from the IAF (Group Captain TP Srivastava) knows the ins and outs of the Tejas program in 2022. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect every retired officer to come out and counter the horse drivel that Group Captain TP Srivastava (retd) has written. But not a single one has. And that is sad. But retired officers got time to write horsecrap like that article.
I get the math with the 114 MRFA acquisition, which I will elaborate below. Whether we can afford the 114 MRFA is another question. Or if we get the 114 MRFA, what else will suffer? The issue is there are so many airframes & fighter fleets that require retiring over the course of the next two decades, that the number of 114 MRFA seems appropriate. Here are the numbers currently in the IAF;
a) 13 Su-30MKI units
b) 4 MiG-21 Bison units
c) 6 Jaguar IS/IB/IM units
d) 3 Mirage 2000I/TI units
e) 3 MiG-29UPG units
f) 2 Rafale F3R(I) units
g) 2 Tejas Mk1 units
The above represents the entire fixed wing fighter fleet of the Indian Air Force. That is roughly around 33 units in total. The sanctioned strength is 42 units. But herein lies the problem. In the above list (from B to E), these airframes will all be retired within 15+ years. That is 16 units or half the current strength of 2022. The MRFA is attempting to stem the tide by acquiring 6 units. But that still leaves a gaping hole of 10 units. And that 10 units is just to match (unit for unit) the 2022 fleet strength of 33 units. I am not even talking about 42 units!
So over the course of the next 2 decades, the fighter fleet will look something like this;
a) 13 Su-30MKI units
b) 2 Rafale F3R(I) units
c) 6 MRFA units (hopefully Rafale for logistics and commonality purposes)
d) 2 Tejas Mk1 units
e) 4 Tejas Mk1A units
So the IAF is looking at 27 units in total. But despite 114 MRFA, the IAF is still short by the sanctioned strength of 15 units and that is a huge gap. And this is why the Tejas Mk2 is so bloody damn crucial. If 200 airframes are ordered, it will eventually boost the strength up to 37 units. And that is a massive shot in the arm for the IAF. But Air HQ is dilly dallying as usual. This current Air Chief even stated that they will not hit 42 squadrons anytime this decade or the next. And it is not because the problem is insurmountable, they just do not want to.
The IAF has had it easy since independence. We want X capability, so we will write up a RFI for a global competition. We will then acquire a particular platform. Affordability, Serviceability, Sustainability be damned. The vision is always short term and never long term. The anathema towards HAL is primarily because the Air Force wants a ready-made platform from Day 1. Forget HAL, no OEM can deliver what the IAF is asking from the Tejas at its first attempt. Iterative improvements is a concept that goes over the IAF's head.
Peer over at our neighbour and the situation is diametrically opposite. In JF-17, you have successive block improvements. Each new block is progessively better than the preceding block. Yes the platform is subpar, but see the effort being taken. Is that happening in India? One Air Marshal wants a thicker canopy, another Air Marshal wants X, yet another Air Marshal wants Y. So the developer is left scrambling to put that capability onto the platform. And these Air Marshals are wickedly smart. They full well know that this will not only take time, but delay the program. Then they will complain that HAL is taking too long to deliver the aircraft, so 114 MRFA is necessary.
I am condensing a lot of the timeframe to keep it concise. But I can already see this is turning into a long rant
Sorry.
There are options available (RIGHT NOW) to stem the tide of squadron shortage;
1) Order four more Tejas Mk1A units
2) Commence the Super Sukhoi upgrade
3) Improve serviceability of the current fleet
4) Place order of intent for 200 Tejas Mk2s
But none of these will be pursued, because the IAF has a laser vision focus on only 114 MRFA. More pilots will die in Bison and other crashes. Air HQ will award a medal to their next of kin and get a photo taken with the President of India on Republic Day. Rinse & Repeat.
I vividly remember when No 20 Lightnings was raised on 27 Sept 2002. Air HQ was giddy in joy over their new toy. The then Air Chief - Kitcha Sir - was hopping and skipping at Lohegaon on that day. 20 years later, the IAF has now jumped to their next toy ---> Rafale F3R(I) and 114 MRFA. The 270+ Rambha fleet can die a slow death. 20 years from today, the same fate will be shared by the Rafale F3R(I) and 114 MRFA. Rinse & Repeat.
The real danger to the Tejas Mk2 is not even the 114 MRFA acquisition. That will be an indirect correlation. The real danger to the Mk2 program, IMVHO, lies in the AMCA. Once again, Air HQ is dousing the Mk2 program in kerosene and will then light it on fire. Air HQ wants to jump directly from Mk1A to AMCA. Never before have I seen such an asinine line of thinking. Go to any aircraft developer (that have designed or are designing VLO platforms) and ask them if they could move from a Tejas Mk1A type aircraft directly to a fifth generation fighter. Even Air HQ knows that is not possible. But they do not want the Tejas Mk2. So they will live with a squadron shortage for the next 2 decades. Rinse & Repeat.
Once 114 MRFA is wholly inducted, then Air HQ will say Tejas Mk2 represents similar capability to Rafale and 114 MRFA. We don't want duplication of capability, so there is no need for the Tejas Mk2. We want a twin engine, VLO platform, with laser guns and dilithium powered missiles that move at the speed of Warp 9. Once again....Rinse & Repeat.
No politician in India is aware of this malaise that lives at Air HQ. They blindly believe and swallow whatever Air HQ tells them as gospel truth. Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, the late Arun Jaitley and the late Manohar Parrikar are clueless, because it is not their domain expertise. Air HQ is taking everyone for a ride and destroying the nation's Military Industrial Complex as a result. They will gladly lay down their lives for the nation in times of war, but actively kill the nation in times of peace. The dichotomy is astounding.
Not a single politician is willing to bell the cat at Air HQ, because they don't know where to find the cat at Air HQ!
P.S. This is only the Tejas program. Same story with Light Combat Helicopter and HTT-40. Imported Air Force (IAF).