India has tech to protect itself from missile attack like Israel, more numbers needed, says Air Chief Marshal A P Singh

Air Chief Marshal Singh was addressing the media ahead of the 92nd Air Force Day, which would be celebrated in Chennai this year on October 8. He was responding to a question on India’s capability to protect itself from a possible attack like the one Israel faced when Iran rained down missiles on the country earlier this week. The Air Chief said in the instance of such a missile attack, there would be a need to prioritise India’s vital areas and points which need to be protected first.

He said the systems which India has and is in the process of procuring can perform similar functions as the Iron Dome.

Israel’s Iron Dome, among other layers of its air defence system, is effectively used to fend off missiles or rockets fired by its adversaries.

“The combination air defence weapon systems we will have are fairly competent,” he said, adding that it is true that more numbers are needed for better protection.

“We have to see our priorities, where are our vital areas, points, what areas we need to protect first. We need to concentrate more on those points,” he said.

He said the systems which have come to the IAF, and those in the pipeline, have the technology to intercept missiles in the instance of a possible attack.

Responding to a question on how Indian military capabilities stand in comparison to China, he said India has lagged behind — both in technology and production rates of military platforms and there is a need to catch up. “That will happen over a period of time, it cannot happen overnight.”

However, he underlined that India’s military training is better than China.

“One place, I can positively say is we are training much better than them. We have much better exposure than them. We get to know… how they train and how many different air forces they interact with and how many do we interact with. As far as human angle is concerned, people behind the machine are concerned we are way ahead of them,” he said.

Replying to a question on the current situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, he said it is the same as it was a year ago. He added that the Chinese are constructing infrastructure on their side of the LAC rapidly and India is matching it.

He said India does not have a design to go offensive unnecessarily. “Only when we are pushed will we do something… We have our plans in place,” he said.

The Air Chief also highlighted the impact of delays in production and delivery of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, being produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and long-pending Medium Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme in the wake of IAF’s dwindling squadron strength.

“It is a known fact that the Tejas has been delayed. We all know it. And there is also a promise that the production rate will be increased to 24 aircraft per year. If that promise is kept, I think the delays can be caught up with,” he said.

Air Chief Marshal Singh emphasised that the first aim is not to let the IAF’s fighter aircraft strength go down. “That means, as we are reaching obsolescence of certain aircraft, the aircraft should be inducted parallelly, so the number of squadrons do not drop below 30.” For that, he said, it is important to learn from all that which led to the delays in the case of Tejas Mk I and make sure that those things are ironed out right in the beginning.

This includes achieving absorption of technology parallelly when an aircraft goes for production, he said, while underlining that there is a need for private players to come in.

“Because unless you have private industry coming in, I don’t think we can continue relying on only one agency (HAL) as it will also have its own limitations in terms of what it can do,” he said.

Talking about the MRFA programme, also aimed at building the fighter squadron strength of the IAF, he said he would not be able to lay down a timeline on it.

Stating that MRFA is needed, he said Tejas Mk2 is supposed to do its first flight next year October and December 2027 is supposed to be the end of Research & Development for LCA-Mk2.

“We need to see that the timelines are met. If these timelines are met and MRFA is signed parallelly we are ok. But if these timelines are pushed, then we need to look at alternatives,” he said.

The IAF has a sanctioned squadron strength of 42, but currently has 31. The force is looking at getting 97 additional Tejas Mark-1A, and also six-seven squadrons each of Tejas Mark 2 and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) which will likely take a decade for production.

He further highlighted a number of indigenous projects, currently in the pipeline, such as the Tejas, Tejas Mk2, AMCA, ASTRA and large long-range weapons, adding that surface-to-air guided weapons like MRSAM and AKASH are a priority.

He said the aim is that the full IAF inventory be developed and produced in India by 2047.

The top IAF officer acknowledged global supply chain issues caused by ongoing conflicts, and its impact all across the globe, adding that the IAF is managing itself well despite the challenging war situations globally.

He said the IAF’s focus has been on training in war-like scenarios and it has been maintaining high operational readiness at all times. He said surface-to-air guided weapons are also kept ready in key areas to ensure that the IAF can respond swiftly to any threat.