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.
Under 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 4th+ 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 Airforce). 
     

  


    In case of a two-front war with Pakistan and China, IAF can use Tejas Mk-IA and some 4th+ generation medium combat fighters. While the remaining 4th+ generation fighters along with Medium Heavy Fighters like Su 30 MKI and Rafael will be used to take care of China’s PLA Airforce. Other than that, IAF should buy 110 medium combat aircrafts in the next 5 years, to address the issue of depleted squadrons and get the required numbers of 45 squadrons. Saab Gripen and F/A 18 Super Hornet E are two good contenders to fulfill IAF’s requirement of 4th+ generation modern medium combat fighters. 


 








     But just that much won’t help as India should work on getting its own indigenous fighters as well. Govt. of India is already working with IAF and HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.) to produce the 1st batch of 40 Tejas Mk-I fighters; which will later be followed by production and induction of Tejas Mk-IA in IAF. Along with that, HAL and ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency) are already in the design stage of producing a 4th+ generation Medium Combat Fighter; which will be based on Tejas Mk-IA and Rafael to get the best characteristics of both the fighters.
     HAL is also working with Sukhoi consortium to upgrade its fleet of Su 30MKI fighters to 4.5++ generation. IAF is also considering purchase of 40 more Su 30MKI or 36-40 more Rafael fighters of France, to improve its fighter squadron and maintain a sword’s edge over China’s Air Force. 




Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 10, 2019 at 8:55 AM

    LCA could have been playing a pivotal role in coming decades !🖕👈

    ReplyDelete

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