A Eurofighter Typhoon Combat Jet
by Shubham Deep
India is the world’s largest arms importer but is still struggling to find an edge against its more powerful adversary, China. The main focus and plan should then be China-centric in nature. Since Indian military planners have shown concern towards the exponential growth in China’s military power in the region, there is a dire need for India to shift the balance of power. The air force is the main unit of any country’s air defense and supremacy, and if India has to be a powerful country then it should have a very technologically advanced and capable air force in order to stop any aggression by enemy countries. Especially when India is surrounded by its two arch rivals China and Pakistan.
Here is my point of view for the ideal IAF fighter fleet which can dominate Asia and have an edge on our rivals China and Pakistan until we get our 5th generation fleet in our inventory post-2025.
Totaling 1001 aircraft or roughly 56 squadrons, the IAF will be the force to reckon with and china should think twice before showing an eye to our country and Pakistan will be crippled in war. Now many of you would be surprised why I have included the Typhoons, F-35s, and the Growlers in small numbers. The reasons being, in today’s combat scenario one has to be superior equipment wise in order to win a battle, so having a small but lethal fleet of sundry fighter planes can accomplish this task since each fighter has its very own niche capabilities.
Now let us look at the advantages of having these assorted fighter jets. Firstly, for stealth effectiveness and more so as a stop gap measure, we should acquire the hi-tech F-35s in our inventory till our 5th generation fighters enter service.
Secondly, Eurofighter Typhoon is on the list because of its features like Mach 2.35 speed and supercruise capabilities, which will be needed to hunt down twin engine Chinese jets which China has in large numbers in their inventory. So, coupling Eurofighter and our thrust vectoring highly maneuverable Sukhoi Su-30MKI’s will have the best air superiority matrix to ward off the Chinese and Pakistanis combat jets.
Third, in a dogfight, we will have the mighty Rafale and the formidable Gripen with their meteor missiles which the IAF will dominate in the BVR category, thus, no Chinese jets will stand a chance against these capable fighters in actual air combat.
Fourth, with Boeing EA-18G Growlers and hopefully Gripen’s EW versions we will have the capability to jam enemy radar stations and their AESA radars to make them rather blind which will enable our fighter jets to hunt them down with our superior missiles with relative ease.
Finally, given we deploy this combination of fighters jets in the forward bases near the Chinese borders, we can then secure our territory from impending Chinese attacks. Let us also remember that we can attack their territory if the situation warrants. Pakistan, on the other hand, can't even dream of attacking India and if it does, then our fighters can penetrate deep inside Pakistan and crush their assets with brutal force with conventional weapons.
Shubham Deep is an avid Defense enthusiast and an ardent IDN fan. This article on the future IAF fleet composition was written by him exclusively for IDN. Views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of IDN
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