Post Kargil, IAF fleet to witness colour makeover

The process of changing the colours has already begun and in the western air command some aircraft operating in the high altitude areas like Leh have already adopted the new colour scheme, sources said. So far the helicopters were olive green (OG) in colour but gradually the choppers too will be painted afresh.

“This has been done for matt grey colour provides better camouflage for the aircraft in its ground attack role. The enemy can spot the silver coloured aircraft shining in bright sunlight and can aim to shoot the glint,” said an official at Air Headquarters.

However, the dull matt grey colour does not glint. Sunlight does not reflect off the surface of the aircraft and the chances of it being spotted are also less, he added. About aircraft like the Mirage-2000 which play both ground attack and air defence role, sources said that their role will also be defined and they too are expected to adopt a different colour scheme.

The helicopters are OG and stand out both against the sky and the ground. Therefore the bottom of some aircraft will be painted silver and the rest of the helicopter would be matt grey. The aim is to provide them camouflage both from the ground and the air, he added.

The Air Force is however, “not very happy” with the radar resistant paint. “The radar escaping paint is no where close to the 50 to 60 per cent effective as we were led to believe. It does provide some 20-30 per cent escape from the radar but the aircraft is spotted, probably a few seconds later. We would like to try out the paints being used by air forces of developed countries but are still banking on the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to deliver its promise,” sources said.

Though the IAF is not very large, the re-paint is a tall order and will take years. “We are happy with initial results but its effectiveness would only be known in the next operation,” the official added.