Indian Air Force - at 75, 'touching the sky with glory'

It started out in 1932 with four creaky biplanes of World War I vintage. Today, at 75, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has evolved into the second largest air force in Asia, and the world's fourth.

It's a journey that has had its thrills and spills and has seen the IAF graduate from piston engine planes to fourth generation combat jets and from manual controls to fly-by-wire technology travelling the spectrum from the subsonic to the supersonic era.

Today, with the induction of cutting edge technology weapons and systems, the IAF is poised to acquire a strategic reach that its outgoing head, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, who retired March 31, says is necessary if India's armed forces are to protect the country's economic, energy and other vital needs in a fast changing world.

In fact, it was President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the supreme commander of the armed forces, who outlined the parameters for such a role when he reviewed the IAF fleet March 7. It was only the fourth time in the IAF's history that such an event has been conducted.

"The Indian Air Force by the year 2025 will be a model air force for the rest of the world to emulate, endowed with the very best of technology in the world, alert and agile strategic planning capability and above all the most professional and dedicated air warriors," the president said.

To understand how this will happen, one has to begin from the start.

The IAF officially came into being on Oct 8, 1932 but the first fleet was raised April 1 the next year with four Westland Wapiti IIA biplanes, six Royal Air Force (RAF)-trained officers and 19 "Havai Sepoys" or air soldiers.

This "A" flight was blooded four-and-a-half years later during action in Miranshah in North Waziristan (now in Pakistan) to support army operations against insurgent tribesmen.

A "B" flight was formed in April 1936, also with Wapiti biplanes, but it was only in June 1938 that a "C" flight was raised to bring No. 1 Squadron to full strength. Its strength had by then risen to 16 officers and 662 men.

With World War II initially confined to the European theatre, the IAF first went into action on the Burma front only in February 1942, by which time two more squadrons had been raised.

On Feb 1 of that year, No.1 Squadron arrived in Burma with its newly acquired Lysanders, flying tactical reconnaissance missions. However, the Japanese advance was relentless and with the final evacuation of Burma, No.1 Squadron personnel were flown to India, where at Risalpur in June 1942, the unit began converting to the Hurricane IIB fighter.

The IAF again went into action with the resumption of operations against the Japanese in 1944 and, by the end of the year, its operational element had progressively risen to nine squadrons.

Five of the Hurricane-equipped squadrons played a major role in the Arakan offensive which began in December 1944, disrupting the enemy's lines of communication and constantly harrying the Japanese forces until victory was achieved with the reoccupation of Rangoon on May 3, 1945.

IAF personnel were decorated with 22 Distinguished Flying Crosses and a host of other honours. The service was also honoured with the bestowal of the prefix "Royal" to its nomenclature in March 1945.

The partition of the subcontinent in 1947 saw the RIAF losing many of its permanent bases and other establishments, as also some squadrons, and literally had no time to recover from this as it went into action Oct 27 of that year as it performed the then unimaginable feat of airlifting a full battalion of Indian Army troops from New Delhi to Srinagar to stave off Pakistan-backed intruders who had swarmed into Jammu and Kashmir.

Three days later, the first Spitfires reached Srinagar and were soon engaged in strafing the raiders. The fighting continued for 15 months, with heavy RIAF involvement throughout, till a ceasefire came into force Jan 1, 1949.

On Jan 26, 1950, India became a republic and the force dropped its "Royal" prefix. At this time, it possessed six fighter squadrons of Spitfires, Vampires and Tempests, one B-24 bomber squadron, one C-47 Dakota transport squadron, one Air Observation Post flight, a communications squadron and a growing training organisation.

Ten years later, the IAF was called on to perform an unusual commitment when it was asked to support UN operations in the Congo (formerly Zaire) in 1961-62.

This involvement continues till date, with about a dozen Mi-35 gun ships and Mi-17 medium transports deployed on UN peacekeeping duties in the African nation.

The IAF was again tested in October 1962 when war erupted on the China-India border.

In all this, the IAF was expanding rapidly, with its compliment of 28,000 officers and men at the time of the China war increasing by some two-thirds by the end of 1964.

Another epoch making event took place in August 1962 with the decision to purchase 12 MiG-21 fighters from the Soviet Union - the IAF's first combat aircraft of non-western origin - and for Soviet technical assistance in setting up production facilities for the fighter in India.

Since then, a number of MiG variants have been inducted into the IAF which now also flies the -27 and -29 models, as also the Sukhoi SU-30 air dominance fighter that has only a handful of rivals in the US F-16 and F-18 Super Hornet and the Swedish Gripen.

The IAF once again went to war in 1965 with the Canberras flying 200 interdiction missions against Pakistani bases, and the nippy Gnats and Hunters stopping the advance of the enemy armour in the deserts of Rajasthan.

This conflict, in fact, was the first full-scale war in which the post-independence IAF was involved.

Then, in 1971, the professional standards, capability and flexibility of the IAF were put to the acid test as the political situation on the subcontinent rapidly deteriorated due to the liberation movement that began in what was then East Pakistan.

Aerial conflicts between the Indian and Pakistani air forces began on the eastern front on Nov 22, preceding a full-scale war by 12 days. On Dec 3, the Pakistan Air Force launched pre-emptive strikes against IAF bases at Srinagar, Amritsar and Pathankot, and at others in northern India. The IAF responded in kind.

In the end, the IAF had good reason to be satisfied with its showing during the conflict.

Since then, it has been a period of consolidation and growth with the IAF fleet strength now at a little under 1,400 aircraft, including 294 air superiority jets, 300 ground attack aircraft, 99 second line combat aircraft, 282 helicopters, 254 transport aircraft, and 154 trainers.

It's little wonder that the IAF should be eyeing a strategic reach and the creation of an Aerospace Command to integrate the capabilities of the three wings of the Indian armed forces.

Explained Tyagi of the concept he mooted three years ago: "I see that India as it grows economically will have to worry about trade security, economic security, food security, energy security. That is the new role of the armed forces. In addition to the traditional defence role, (they) will also have to perform the security role."

This meant the armed forces would have to operate in an expanded area.

"If you agree with that line of argument, then we are saying that we'll have to be prepared to launch operations - not fighting necessarily - to protect our interests at larger distances," Tyagi maintained.

So, how far has the IAF advanced in playing such a role?

President Kalam provided the answer: "The air force has the best of fighter aircraft in the world with multi-role capability, with the ability to carry unique payloads. Above all, you have the capacity to (launch) long-range deep-penetration missions."

If one considers that only six air forces in the world operate midair refuelling tankers and even fewer the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) - the first of which will join the fleet later this year, one begins to appreciate the strategic depth the IAF is acquiring. These are powerful force multipliers and play a critical role both in the training process and in times of conflict.

And, once the IAF begins inducting the 126 multi-role combat aircraft it hopes to acquire soon, it will be truly on the way to translating President Kalam's vision of the future into reality - and continuing its motto of "Touching the sky with glory".

Indo-Asian News Service