A top government committee on Monday recommended a raft of short and long-term measures to boost the capabilities of the Indian Air Force (IAF), which is grappling with a shortage of fighter squadrons, pointing out that it was critical to enhance self-reliance in the aerospace sector through increased participation of the private sector to fill critical gaps, officials aware of the matter said.
The committee’s report, classified “secret”, comes at a time when the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, has publicly flagged concerns about a worrying erosion of capabilities and called for urgent measures to address it.
Defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh presented the report of the empowered committee for capability enhancement of the IAF to defence minister Rajnath Singh, days after the IAF chief admitted that the air force was “very badly off in numbers”, adding that it must induct 40 fighter jets every year to stay combat ready.
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The report is a comprehensive summary of what needs to be done and has reviewed every aspect of capability development, including weapons and systems, technology, infrastructure and capacity for local production, to sharpen the IAF’s combat effectiveness, the officials said, asking not to be named.
“The committee has identified key thrust areas and made recommendations for implementation in the short, medium and long-term to achieve the desired capability enhancement goals of the IAF in an optimal manner,” the defence ministry said.
The report also underscored the need for providing impetus to Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) with the private sector complementing the efforts of defence public sector undertakings and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the ministry said in a statement.
It did not elaborate on the recommendations made by the panel, which was formed on the defence minister’s directions and tasked with examining the issues confronting the world’s fourth largest air force and preparing a detailed plan of action to fix the capability gaps. He ordered top officials to ensure timely implementation of the wide-ranging recommendations.
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Chaired by the defence secretary, the committee’s members included the Vice Chief of Air Staff, secretary (defence production), DRDO chief, and director general acquisition, with the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff being its member secretary.
“At the moment, we are very badly off in terms of numbers. And the numbers that have been promised are also coming a little slow,” the IAF chief said on February 28, making a case for boosting the production rate of fighters. The air force has around 30 fighter squadrons compared to an authorised 42. It is concerned about the current pace of the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1A) programme because of the possible risks a delay in the induction of new fighters could pose to its combat effectiveness.
The report also comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has offered the F-35 to India, which is firmly pushing ahead with an ambitious plan to develop an indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter, or the advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA). Also, Russia has offered to jointly produce its Su-57 stealth fighter in the country, and the IAF is scouting for 114 multi-role fighter aircraft.
The air chief’s frank assessment of IAF’s challenges came weeks after he questioned the ability of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to meet the air force’s critical requirements in the backdrop of a lingering delay in the supply of the new Mk-1A fighter jets, saying he had “no confidence” in the plane maker.
A recent in-house study by the IAF showed that it must induct two fighter squadrons every year to cater to the numbers needed, the existing shortfall and to replace the aircraft that will be phased out soon.
“We have fleets that will be phased out in the next five to 10 years. Those fleets will have to be replaced with new aircraft, and we already have vacancies available (shortfall). We are looking at 35 to 40 aircraft a year being produced somewhere. I understand capacities cannot come up overnight, but we need to start pushing ourselves towards that,” the IAF chief said last week.
He said that the IAF was pushing for a model to build new fighter jets that will involve a foreign original equipment manufacturer setting up a production agency in the country along with an Indian partner as it would also give the air force an alternative option for any future design including a stealth fighter rather than depending only on the capabilities of HAL.
The challenge for the IAF is to strike a balance between the need to become self-reliant and stay potent at the same time with the induction of new weapons and systems.
The defence ministry is working on fixing the problems that have delayed the entry of Mk-1A fighters into service and boosting the production of the planes, including through increased participation of the private sector. The air force ordered 83 Mk-1A fighters for ₹48,000 crore in February 2021 and plans to buy 97 more Mk-1As at a cost of around ₹ 67,000 crore.
