Govt apathy clipped IAF's wing, says MPs panel

new delhi: for the indian air force (iaf), nothing seems to be going right. just when it is struggling with its dismal flight safety record has come a parliamentary standing committee on defence report which has pronounced that the world's fourth largest air force is dangerously hurtling down the road of increasing obsolescence and antiquity. the report, tabled in parliament last week, is a damning indictment of the government.declaring that ``lapses'' by the government ``are inexcusable'', the report holds it responsible not only for failing to respond to the ``urgent and essential needs of modernising the iaf'' but also for not addressing ``the problem of modernisation with any degree of seriousness''. ``the result'', observes the report, ``is that today this crucial wing of the defence forces is facing the serious problem of depletion of a large percentage of its aircraft''. this is indeed shocking keeping in view that any air force, by implication, is capital and technological intensive, making long-term financial commitment and constant modernisation an absolute must. so just what is the problem? the answer: what isn't? first and foremost, the iaf is faced with the unsavoury prospect of a staggering 40 per cent depletion of its 39.5 fighter squadrons in one go over the next ``couple of years'' making it ``extremely vulnerable'' in a security scenario that ``does not reassure the prospect of prolonged period of peace''. since a very large number of the iaf's fighter fleet is of the 1960s and 1970s vintage, and hence nearing the end of their working life, induction of a sizable number of state-of-the-art aircraft has become an absolute necessity within the next 10 years. but since such large-scale inductions are ``an impossible proposition'', the iaf has turned to the next best option: upgradation of mig-21 bis, mig-27s, mig-29s and jaguars. considering the resource constraint, the iaf has decided to have a mix of 40-45 per cent high technology aircraft and 55-60 per cent medium technology aircraft. but fighter aircraft are just one element. technological obsolecense has even affected air defence radars and surface-to-air missiles (sams). the indigenously developed trishul and akash sams, meant as replacements, are again plagued by long delays. the soviet-origin transport fleet continues to suffer from a perennial shortage of spares and will need replacement within seven to 10 years. life extension of the an-32 transport aircraft and even the 1950s technology avro aircraft has been proposed, while there is a need for medium lift (15 to 20 tonne payload) class of transport aircraft. plans are afoot to make necessary corrections. but this is proving a gigantic task. gross slippages in the indigenous development of the light combat aircraft (lca) has forced the iaf to seek additional mig-29s, the more advanced mirage 2000-5 multi-role aircraft, and surprisingly even the 1970s vintage mig-21s . the iaf reckons that the lca will be available for operational service only around 2012-15: in other words, 32 years after the project was first conceived in 1983. but then there has already been a two-year delay in the su-30 acquisition programme and a four-year delay in the mig-21 bis upgradation project. negotiations are now on for a decade-long iaf demand for both flight refuelling aircraft and airborne warning and control systems (awacs). an absence has been felt for electronic warfare equipment, grossly deficient along the indo-pak border in kutchch and saurashtra. even more basic, there is a need to upgrade most airbases and create additional ranges for training. the requirement list is long, indeed endless. it is not a happy new year for the iaf.