IAF reimagined!
Exciting future awaits the IAF...
I am just back from Diwali vacation and getting into gear. I was planning to write about some other topic, but you all know how excited I am to get some positive news on the military tech front.
A few years ago, I wrote about the Indian defence equipment strategy. Here is what I wrote back in 2019 about the airforce:
India needs to up its defense game. India is dealing with potential conflicts on two fronts. On both these fronts we have belligerent neighbors engaged in asymmetric multi-dimensional confrontation. Pakistan is more of warfare and China is more of competition. Yet, India must prepare for the potential conflict. And in this we need to improve our preparation substantially.
Airforce
Just cursory look at the Air force in the region will set us back. Pakistan Air Force generally known combat strength is about 500 aircraft. China is about 1600 aircraft. India is about 600. While the numbers are not exactly a way to differentiate - but considering the length of border and our defense requirement India should aim for 2000 combat plane air force.
This means HAL cannot produce 16 aircraft per year. It has to produce 16 aircraft per month. Using private participation we need to improve this number quickly. Second, it appears we need full Rafale deal AND a F16 manufacturing line at the same time.
IAF should also think of getting larger number of combat drones. These drones should be able to manage to fly with manned aircraft. This one manned aircraft (M) -coupled with around 10 drones (D) or more. Thus one mission unit with M-D combination. Then you can add mission units with xM-yD.
These mission units will need to collaborate and coordinate with share intel. That will require a robust ICT interface.
Airforce needs support from ground and space in the form of missiles and information. We should develop mechanism for coordinated launch of missiles controlled by the aircraft pilot herself. We can augment it with coordinator based ground support too.
As I highlighted, one of the central themes for the IAF was that we lack a stealthy deep-strike penetration striker with a combat radius of more than 1200 km. The IAF Rafale and Su30s are capable, but they are not stealthy enough.
Development of Ghatak and SWIFT drones
Over the past few weeks, we have received confirmation that India’s super stealthy drone Ghatak and its miniaturised version SWIFT have cleared important milestones. This is a super exciting development.
We can now execute deep-penetration strikes using networked warfare. In the near future, I want to see the IAF use the configuration shown below. All the components here are already in place. So that is a big reason for my excitement.
Secret Note:
This week, I find my twitter/X reach has expanded a bit. So I am happy about that. Follow me on twitter / X.