INDIA
DEFENCE CONSULTANTS
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WHAT'S
HOT? –– ANALYSIS OF RECENT HAPPENINGS |
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IAF WILL COME OF AGE IN 2004 An IDC Analysis (with inputs from Sayan Majumdar)
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New
Delhi, 06
January 2004
With
India’s economy on the move and all round improvements in
political and military matters India was truly shining into the New
Year. We had recently highlighted the Navy and Army achievements and
challenges (See
‘a
twenty-first century navy’ and ‘modernisation-challenges
for indian army’); and now it is the turn of
the Air Force to receive our attention.
We
believe that the IAF has the “finest flying men and machines“
and aver that the IAF will come of age in 2004, with nuclear
capability in place under the Strategic Nuclear Command. This year
will also see the IAF control accidents as the MiG 21’s problem is
being licked and HAL is being brought in line. The UAVs, aerostats,
midair refuellers and the SU 30 MKI aircraft will see operational
improvements with systems and new EW and Exercises
With USAF Once
again within a couple of months Gwalior will be the center of
attention and attraction for the IAF (Indian Air Force) community as
both IAF and USAF (United States Air Force) gears up for their first
ever combat exercises on Indian soil. While the USAF is projected Having
performed well against French in Exercise Garuda, it is natural to
hope that the IAF will secure an edge over the USAF too in the
forthcoming exercise provided IAF commits its best air superiority
fighter. However if the Mirage 2000 is committed it remains at a
distinct disadvantage to the USAF F-15Cs in terms of sensors and
weaponry. Moreover the USAF fighters will be protected with a
formidable EW (Electronic Warfare) suite. We will wait and watch and
the IAF cannot hope to match the USAF in technology but it can learn
lessons. This is the message of our analysis. The
predominant factor that decides the outcome of present day air
combat remains the element of surprise and had been repeatedly
confirmed in air combats over the skies of Middle East, Vietnam,
Iraq and Kosovo in the past five decades. More than 50 percent of
shot-down and survived pilots stated that they were unaware of being
tracked down prior to attack. Thus the concept of “first look”
by superior radar is of great significance. In this
The
situation is set to alter significantly if the IAF decides to
challenge the USAF F-15Cs with its Sukhoi-30MKIs. Then the advantage
of technology will be on the Indian side. For air-superiority
missions Sukhoi-30MKI is equipped with the formidable NIIP N-011M
"Bars" (Snow Leopard) multi-mode radar with a passive
phased-array antenna. "Bars" can track several targets
while continuing to scan for more. It can simultaneously track ten
targets and shoot at four with the numbers slated to increase with
new software releases. During flight-testing aboard Sukhoi-30MK and
Sukhoi-35, "Bars" detected air targets at 330 kilometres
and that is likely to increase through an enhanced signal amplifier
and increased power transmitter. Even smaller targets of 2 metre
square RCS (Radar Cross Section) can be detected in excess of 120
kilometres. Thus the element of surprise now rests in favour of IAF.
With the Russians having started work on AESA (Active Electronically
Scanned Arrays) radar systems, in future preferably an AESA variant
should equip our Sukhoi-30MKIs. Additionally
the Sukhoi-30MKI can function as a "mini-AWACS (Airborne
Warning And Control System)" platform and can act as a fighter
director or airborne command post by transferring target
co-ordinates to at least four other aircraft. This special feature
was first demonstrated by S-800 Zaslon "Flash Dance"
airborne radar mounted on MiG-31 "Foxhound". Thus tactics
refinement in a “multi-bogey” environment can be made and the
system will be severely tested against the powerful USAF
electronic-warfare environment. Sukhoi-30MKIs
BVR and WVR missile combination of active-radar homing R-77-RVV-AE
(AA-12 Adder) and all-aspect R-73RDM2 (AA-11 Archer) compares
favourably with the USAF combination of AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X
Sidewinder with no side enjoying a distinct edge. In both cases the
maximum range of the WVR missiles overlap the minimum range of Another
important area of the joint exercise is projected to be protection
of vital airborne platforms like AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control
System) and IFR (In-Flight Refueling) tanker platforms. Here vast
USAF experience will be helpful for the IAF as it is in the process
of inducting Phalcon AWACS platforms and Illyushin-78 tankers.
Whether destruction of enemy vital airborne platforms will be on the
training agenda is not certain. After-all the Russians have
meanwhile resurrected their ultra-long-range AAM (Air-to-Air
Missile) project of Novator Ks-172 designed to destroy enemy AWACS
platforms and IFR tankers without first having to negotiate with
their fighter escorts and can be launched from Sukhoi-30 fighters. The discretion of the Indian fighter aircraft type to take part in the Indo–United States Air Exercise certainly rests on the IAF top brass. The enthusiasts however would like to see the formidable Sukhoi-30MKI take part from IAF side and score a “victory”. However what is certain is that tactics and notes will be exchanged and will be beneficial to both IAF and USAF. Indo–United States strategic partnership will be strengthened. We
therefore salute the IAF and wish them greater success. |
Radar
equipment that will be in place. The IAF has also decided to pitch
for the Mirage 2000 N as its next demand as the LCA has still a long
way to go, and 10 more Mirage 2000s are being refurbished for
delivery by Dassault. This will be the year of the IAF, which in the
last two years has worked hard to iron out its problems, especially
accidents. Their exposure to foreign air forces has given them
greater confidence and soon they will have the world’s leading
fighters over Indian skies and their order book in place. The SU 30
MKI AL 31PFV engines have short overhaul and inspection regimes and
variable nozzles, which problems are also being licked.
to field their top-of-the-line F-15C air-superiority fighters the
IAF has probably settled for Mirage 2000H which during February 2003
took part in Exercise Garuda with the French Armee de l'Air Mirage
2000s at the same venue and carried out around 200 sorties with BVR
(Beyond Visual Range) and WVR (Within Visual Range) missiles and
refining of tactics. The IAF was quick enough to absorb the French
BVR tactics while performing superbly in the WVR arena. This was a
great learning experience and Indian pilots shone.
context the AN/APG-63 or AN/APG-70 X-band pulsed-Doppler radars of
F-15Cs are significantly superior to the RDM radars of the Mirage
2000H. Thus the in a BVR combat scenario the IAF Mirages will be
tracked earlier and “executed” by the highly reliable American
AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile). AMRAAM is
active radar homing so that it can be launched in
“fire-and-forget” mode. Even a tactical approach may not be able
to alter the technical edge the F-15Cs enjoy and in any case the
USAF has vast experience of actual wartime BVR combat tactics over
the skies of Iraq and Kosovo. Moreover the Super 530D missiles of
the Mirage 2000 are semi-active radar homing and make the launching
fighter’s movements predictable between missile launch and
“execution”. 
In
WVR combat the IAF Mirage 2000 does have certain advantages, as it
is highly maneuverable with an awesome instantaneous turn rate of
13.5 degrees per second in an emergency and it is visually
“small”. Our Mirage pilots are very competent and they love the
plane even more than the SU 30s, according to many. In sharp
contrast the F-15s are visually prominent and “inviting”
especially during turn. But the USAF WVR combat missile, Raytheon
developed AIM-9X Sidewinder that has arrived with a revolutionary
‘staring focal plane array technology’, and has inherently
better IRCCM (Infra-Red Counter Counter Measures) and is readily
programmable for new IRCCM techniques in future may turn out to be
the great equalizer. This particular staring focal plane array
technology, provides greater ability to reject flares and other
countermeasures. AIM-9X thus may offset certain disadvantages of the
F-15Cs against the Mirage 2000 in the WVR combat arena.