India's 3 Fighter Program
Should India pursue a 3 Fighter Program? Indian Air Force (IAF) is facing a shortage of jet fighters as its squadrons have gone down from 38 to 33, while the required sanctioned strength is 45. In order to get the sanctioned strength, IAF should pursue a 3 Fighter Program while asking HAL to boost production of LCA Tejas Mk-1A. U nder this, it should have 3 different types of fighters. · Type I- Light Combat Aircrafts like Tejas Mk-I and Mk-IA for light attack and short-term based war, to counter Pakistan’s JF-17 Thunder and China’s J-10C. · Type II- Medium Combat Fighter like JAS-39 Saab Gripen and medium weight combat aircraft based on best characteristics of Tejas Mk-IA and Rafael, both of which are 4 th + generation advanced fighters. · Type III- Medium Heavy Fighters like Su 30 MKI and Rafael for medium combat to heavy bombardment of enemy bases and air-defence systems, along with assault and damage of enemy air force (China’s PLA Airf