Strengthening IAF after Balakot: India set to acquire new Russian armaments

Post Balakot, the Defence Ministry had given emergency powers to the armed forces to make up for shortages in weapons and ammunition. 

 Key Highlights

• The IAF has just signed a contract for about 400 R-73s missiles worth around Rs 1,000 crore
• India has also asked Russia for more X-31 Anti Radiation Missiles
• The IAF is getting very sophisticated Russian BVV-AE air to air missiles

In the wake of Balakot, and the Pakistani Air Force's attempts to hit targets in India, foiled by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and his colleagues, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has begun looking for new armaments for its fighters.
* For any air force, it is not only about a high-quality fighter, but also, armaments, and in this age, missiles fired from beyond visual range (BVR). Wing Commander Varthaman had fired a short-range Russian R-73 missile at the Pakistan Air Force F-16 on February 27 this year. The IAF has just signed a contract for about 400 R-73s missiles worth around Rs 1,000 crore. The IAF sees the heat-seeking T-73 (with a range of about 30 km) as a low-cost, high-efficiency solution as it can be fired from many of its fighter jets, including the newer MiG-21 Bison, the MiG-29 and the Sukhoi-30MKI.
* India has also asked Russia for more X-31 Anti Radiation Missiles (ARM). These can be fitted on to most Russian designed fighters like the Sukhoi or the MiG-29 and even the French-made Mirage-2000 and are very accurate. These are supersonic air-to-surface missiles and the IAF will get about 250 of them (at a cost of about Rs 1,800 crore) and are effective against radar stations. The IAF had got some ARMs from Russia earlier.
 The IAF is also getting the very sophisticated Russian BVV-AE air to air missiles. These are roughly equivalent of the US-made AMRAAM missiles that were fired by Pakistani F-16 fighters on February 27. The BVVs have BVR capability with a range of about 80 to 100 km. About 400 of them are likely to be purchased and can be fitted on to the MiG-21 Bison, the MiG-29 and the Sukhoi-30. 
The purchases come in the wake of Balakot, after which the Defence Ministry gave the armed forces emergency powers to make up for shortages in weapons and ammunition. The IAF is also procuring other weapons and equipment to maintain operational readiness. This is also another sign that India continues to buy weapons from Russia despite strong international pressure.

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