Many questions are raised regarding the combat capability of the Indian Air force as there are merely 30 squadrons compared to a theoretical figure of 42 squadrons which are required for a two-front situation.
Let me remind you of the – ‘ THE GAGAN SHAKTI EXERCISE ‘. This exercise was held as the AIR CHIEF MARSHAL B.S. DHANOA strongly wanted to prove that IAF as a force has the capability to punch above its weight.
• During the Gagan-Shakti Exercise, more than 11,000 were flown by IAF, including 9000 by its combat aircraft. This was enough to shut the mouth of those who apprehended that IAF’s combat edge was seriously blunted by declining force levels. Five doctrinal underpinnings of the IAF were exercised and validated during the Gagan Shakti exercise. These are persistence, persuasion, compliance, endurance, and jointness.
•The stated aims of the Exercise were real-time coordination, deployment, and employment of airpower in a short and intense battle scenario. Almost the entire might of the IAF was exercised to validate its concept of operations and war waging capabilities.
Nuclear and biological warfare were at the periphery of the exercise and the ability to fight a two-front war with China and Pakistan, an unspoken agenda. The first part of the Exercise focussed on the Western front and then the whole activity shifted to the northern front.
• It demonstrated the capacity to fly more than 5,000 sorties during the first 3-4 days of the exercise in a ‘sustained surge’ phase that comprised missions ranging from long-distance precision strikes, interdiction of the army and maritime targets, attacks against targets in the tactical battle area (TBA) and robust multi-layered air defense.
• As a part of the Exercise, long-range strike missions were planned and flown over targets in Lakshadweep. During the long-range bombing operations, Su-30s got airborne from Kalaikunda on the East coast to run bombing operations over the general area of Lakshadweep.
The aircraft was refueled en route and on the return trip by IAF flight refuellers. This also showed the IAF’s preparedness and reach to respond to contingencies over the Indian Ocean Region, if required.
• MoD press released on April 24, 2018, after the culmination of the exercise stated that ships were deployed in both the Arabian Sea as well as in the Bay of Bengal, for anti-shipping strikes by IAF maritime aircraft operating from bases on the East and West coast, as well as from island territories; no mention was made of Malacca Straits.
However, the exercise amply demonstrated IAF capability of engaging maritime targets in the Indian Ocean Region, including by employment of flight refueling where targets were beyond range.
•A battalion-level airborne drop in the second phase of the exercise and speedy inter-valley and inter-theatre switching of forces with the entire array of the IAF’s modern and legacy airlift capability (C-17s, C-130s, Il-76s, An-32s, and Mi-17 helicopters of varied sophistication) demonstrated a persuasiveness.
• In addition to the long-range strikes over far off-targets, Exercise Gagan Shakti validated the capability to move strike aircraft from one theatre to another quickly and with no time wasted in staging through intermediate airfields.
Alternatively, without moving the strike aircraft from the main base, their use in distant areas in a two-front scenario by using flight refueling en route, the strike power can be “force multiplier” to go beyond plain arithmetic of squadron strengths.
The IAF claimed very high serviceability for all its combat aircraft during the exercise; the figure of 80 percent was affirmed by the MoD in its press release.
• Sustaining operations over slightly under two weeks and generating more than 11,000 sorties is reflective of combat endurance, a trait that India’s armed forces have had to demonstrate to force favorable war-outcomes.
• Gagan Shakti has demonstrated that whenever the call of duty has been blown, the services have pulled together with alacrity.
Author -Vinit Mehta
Twitter Id – @Vinit__Mehta
Writter for IFE News Network
