‘Not enough fighter jets is akin to playing cricket with just 7 players’: Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa
- Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa feels the IAF is short of fighter squadrons
- This could lessen our air power in case a two-front conflict arises
- Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa had previously sent a letter to his officers asking them to be prepared for operations
FollowEarlier in May Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa sent a personal letter to nearly 12,000 officers of the Indian Air Force (IAF), asking them to be prepared for operations "at a very short notice".
ANI quoted a part of the letter, "In the present scenario, there is an ever persistent sub-conventional threat. Therefore, we need to be prepared for operations with our present holdings, at a very short notice. Training needs to be focused towards this."
The ‘urgency’ in the letter indicates the threat of a ‘proxy war by Pakistan’ being expected. The immediate question arises that is the Indian Air Force prepared for a two-front conflict? The present understanding in the military circles is that the nation should be ready to face threats from China and Pakistan.
Talking to The Indian Express, the Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, said that while the IAF is ready for the use of air power against Pakistan in response to a terrorist attack, it is an option that has to be exercised by the government.
The IAF currently has 32 fighter squadrons, and is tasked with tackling a two-front collusive threat from China and Pakistan. Commenting on the same, Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said how the IAF was authorised to have a strength of 42 fighter squadrons as the ‘minimum to dominate a conflict’ were it to arise.
But if we were to look at our current strength of 32 fighter squadrons, we can see how the IAF is woefully short. The “reduced numbers place a severe handicap akin to a cricket team playing with 7 players instead of 11,” Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said to The Indian Express. “Though we are operating under challenging conditions, we have devised mitigating strategies,”
Once the numbers are augumented, the IAF Chief has expressed confidence that India would be in a better position to dominate the air space. In all the responses to the Pakistan army until now, the IAF’s roles have been restricted to providing intelligence and surveillance to the forces on ground.
