36 Rafale aircraft will not be adequate for IAF: Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria

The 36 Rafale fighter aircraft will not provide the Indian Air Force a complete solution and there is a need to develop indigenous weapons and technology which will be a major “gamechanger” in the future, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said on Friday.

Bhadauria, while speaking at a seminar “Air Power in ‘No War No Peace’ Scenario”, explained that the induction of the Rafales armed with Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor missiles, will give the IAF an edge over the Pakistan Air Force in terms of BVR technology. The first Rafales arrive in India in May.

But, he said that the IAF cannot just depend on the Rafale’s Meteor BVR missiles to sort out the force’s requirements. He added that when the indigenous Astra missile is integrated with the Su-30 and MiG-29 aircraft, it will ensure better performance and parity across the IAF. He said that the indigenous industry needs to give the IAF an edge in weapons, adding that the force will be “happy” to use such technology in the next skirmish.
 While the IAF Chief said that the force didn’t have the BVR edge over the Pakistan Air Force at the time of the Balakot strikes in February last year, the hit showed the will to strike targets across the Line of Control. He said it was a demonstration on the use of airpower below the conventional boundaries, wherein the IAF can be used for targeting and have escalation control. He added that to prevent collateral damage, the weapons and their quantity was chosen to be just adequate, otherwise the IAF could have “doubled the aircraft and launched four times the weapons”.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who also attended the seminar, said that the Balakot strikes were a strong message to Pakistan that terrorist infrastructure across the border cannot be used as a safe haven to wage a “low-cost war” against India.

He said that following the Balakot strikes the government has initiated “major structural changes” to tackle future threats. But, he added that arresting terrorists like Hafiz Saeed is not enough and unless Pakistan is made accountable it will continue with its policy of “deceit”.

On the Rafales and indigenous technology, Bhadauria said, “The 36 Rafales will not give the IAF an entire solution. But when our indigenous Astra goes on to the Su-30 and MiG-29 that is the real power of parity and better performance that will spread across the air force...Indigenous technology projects need to succeed on a time frame that is robust and the industry needs to give us these products that are indigenous. That is a major game changer that should happen in future. We will be happy that in the next skirmish the weapons that we use are indigenous.”

The Astra is a BVR air-to-air missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. He also said that over the last year the air force has concentrated on advanced weapon systems and has examined some sensors and indigenous missiles that it has expedited. “We cannot just depend on meteor class BVR on Rafale to sort out the entire air force requirements. It is also important that this capability on rafale is complemented with similar capability on other platforms,” he said.

“We had a BVR edge over the Pakistan Air Force at the time of Kargil. We allowed that to slip and thereafter it took a decade and a half in our struggle through the acquisition process to be able to get back to a better capability. It didn’t materialise at the time of Balakot and it will materialise with the Rafale inducting,” he said.

Speaking on Balakot's lessons, Bhadauria said, “First is the demonstration of the will to strike against targets across the LoC. This was a major shift and fundamental to our actions in the future…This was a clear demonstration on the use of airpower that exists a space below the conventional boundaries wherein the IAF can be utilised for targeting and yet have escalation control.”

He also said, “It was important to get the target and to ensure no collateral damage. That was the choice of weapons was chosen and the quantity chosen in a manner that it is just adequate, otherwise we could have doubled the aircraft and launched four times the weapons.”

Meanwhile, Singh said that India’s out-of-the-box response reflected in the Balakot airstrikes forced the rewriting of many doctrines across the LoC and the adversary has to think “100 times for any future misadventures”.

Stressing on the importance of diplomatic and financial pressure to thwart cross-border terrorism, he said, “We have recently seen the impact of collective diplomatic and financial pressure on Pakistan. Terrorists like Hafiz Saeed who were treated like VIPs and heroes, have been put behind bars. We realise that this is not enough and unless Pakistan is made accountable, it will continue with its previous policy of duplicity and deceit. All attempts are being made to work in this direction.”

 economictimes