When a man completes 75 years, it is considered a prelude to senility. When the air force of a nation celebrates its platinum jubilee, people hail it as a sign of maturity. Mature or not, the men in the Indian air force have reason to feel happy over the prospect of the induction of 126 new fighters into the fleet as the government has called for “request-for-proposal” from six manufacturers in Europe and America. None can predict the outcome of the bid, but the scenario is not difficult to visualize. There is bound to be lobbying and counter-lobbying. Allegations and counter-allegations will fly thick to delay the decision-making process. All this simply because the quantum and quality of the deal are too important for the survival of some and the revival of fortunes of some others. The pleaders and lobbyists will have to reason why they consider any aircraft to be the best for the Indian sky. And in doing that, they are bound to leave ethics and morality on the wayside.
The lobbyists may go on an overdrive to prove that it would be an inherently better option for India to go for a twin, rather than a single, engine fighter as the former has an edge over the other on combat radius, engine power, reserve power and so on. They would invariably come down heavily on the Swedish made-SAAB JAS-39 Gripen and the US manufactured Lockheed Martin F-16.
The rival camp would flaunt the traditional fighter inventory of the IAF — which has had the propensity to use the one-engined Vampire, Ouragon, Mystere, Gnat, Hunter, MiG-21, MiG-23, Mig-27, Sukhoi-7 to Mirage-2000 — and the capability and accomplishments of these aircraft. The tension between the camps is already palpable as rivals have begun trying to establish the credentials of their preferred flying machines and finding faults with the other makes.
Dream machine
In other words, the ghost of Bofors still haunts the Indian establishment. So much so that it has virtually stymied the selection process of the field gun for the Indian army. Notwithstanding the superb show in Kargil, for the army, Bofors remains a perennial problem. The ghost may visit the Indian air fields also, in case those who miss the bus if SAAB JAS-39 Gripen wins the race want to revive the spectre of another scandal.
Critics of the “obsolescence” factor may question the wisdom of the selection of F-16s. Interestingly, the main danger to F-16s may come from its country rival, Boeing, which is showcasing its twin-engine Super Hornet F/A-18. France is another strong traditional bidder. However, the Americans, fresh from the newly-found camaraderie through the joint exercises in Gwalior and Kharagpur, may not yield air space without a fight. If India could start operating the US-made landing ship, Trenton, in the midst of Russian-made vessels, Washington can well dream of a substantial order from the IAF.
But will the Russians give up so easily, after being India’s traditional supplier of aircraft of all types for close to fifty years? Are not they powerful enough to influence the actual users of the Moscow-made machines, both in the air and in the maintenance depots from Leh to Thiruvananthapuram and Bhuj to Khumbhigram? With hundreds of tanks, guns, MiGs, Antonovs, Sukhois, Mils, Tupolevs and Ilyushins in the inventory of the Indian armed forces, apart from the Moscow-made nuclear submarine, Akula, no establishment in India would deal with Moscow with a kid-glove.
To cut a long story short, the choice of acquiring fighter aircraft for the IAF could be a source of endless trouble for Raisina Hills. The Left has already alleged a sellout. The war within seems to have just begun. The result of this fight for the fighters on air is yet to emerge.
