The government constituted a high-level committee headed by Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh in order to tackle the operational gaps the Indian Air Force is facing in certain areas like aircraft manufacturing as well as delays in the supply of jet engines. Apart from that, a major setback comes from the ‘force multipliers,’ which act as a key prerequisite for overall improvement in the sector.
The other members of the high-level committee are Indian Air Force deputy chief Air Marshal Tejinder Singh, DRDO Chief Samir V. Kamat, and Secretary of Defense program Sanjeev Kumar, among others.
Key Functions of the Committee:
As stated above, the government’s main concern and the committee’s main function is to re-track the Indian Air Force’s defense capabilities amid serious functional and operational deadlocks. The main functions that are expected to be performed by the panel can be summarized in the following points:
- Examining IAF’s overall capacity and capability development: The first and foremost function of the committee will be to look into the present capabilities of the Indian Air Force, according to which further functions and policies can be framed. The IAF needs to look into the functional discrepancies it is facing at present and needs to improve them with the means present.
- Fast-track production of indigenous air supplies: The deployment of the Chinese air force’s fighters, drones, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, etc., near all the air bases facing India made it compulsory for India, in terms of balance of power, to accelerate its production of indigenous aircraft and jet engines without being much more dependent on international deals. Apart from this, the long-standing projects of air supplies are also at the center stage.
- The Delays in International Projects and Deals: The committee will also need to look at the delays that the deals are facing during the supply of air supplies and functionaries. Jet engines are the foremost among them, which are also much needed in the production of jet aircraft. Various Indian as well as international producers are delaying the supply, leading to further increasing the gap in production.
Major Challenges:
The major challenges before the committee are the same as the functions it is destined to perform. The challenges themselves formulated the functions. Yet the challenges need to be looked after deeply:
- The logjam over the long-pending project to manufacture 114 new 4.5-generation fighter jets, at an initial estimation of 1.25 lakh crore, with foreign collaboration.
- Delays in the manufacturing of indigenous Tejas Mark-1A jets, which are being delayed because of irregular supply of their engines from major General Electric, based in the USA.
- Hindustan Aeronautics, an Indian company that deals with air supplies, promised 16 Tejas Mark-1A fighters to the IAF in the 2024-25 fiscal year. Under the Rs 46,898 crore deal for 83 such single-engine jets inked in Feb 2021, they will only be able to deliver 2-3 of them. The order for such other 97 TejasMark-1A fighters for Rs 67,000 crore is also in the line, yet to be concluded.
- Force multipliers, equipment, or activities that increase a military group’s combat effectiveness are also something in which India is lacking behind. For example, India has just 6 IL-78 mid-air refuelers, which is very low when compared to other countries. It requires almost 18 of such.
The same goes for ‘Netra,’ also known as ‘Eye in the Sky,’ which is an airborne early warning and control aircraft that can detect, track, and identify aircraft, missiles, ships, and vehicles. It can also provide command and control to direct friendly forces. India lacks these also and is also planning to develop 6 Mark-1A and 6 Mark-2 versions of ‘Netra.’
The committee is going to submit its report at the end of January next year.
