Air Chief: Rafale to make IAF strong

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal R.K.S Bhadauria said on Friday that the crucial lessons from the Balakot air strike and air skirmishes of last year was that India should not allow its weapons edge over Pakistan to ‘slip back’ once it is achieved with the induction of Rafale fighter jets and other weapon upgradation including indigenous missiles.

“It (weapon edge) did not materialised at the time of Balakot and it will soon materialise with the induction of Rafale,” the Air Force chief said. He said that Indian Air Force had an edge over Pakistan Air Force in terms of Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile capability at the time of Kargil. “We allowed that to slip and thereafter it took a decade and half in our struggle to acquire similar or better capabilities,” he said.

Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said IAF is enhancing its weapon capability, sensor and network capabilities and enhance ability for secure communication.

Pakistan Air Force F16s, which had come to target Indian military installations on February 27, 2019, were armed with the BVR missile AMRAAM which has a higher range than that of the R-77 on IAF's Su 30 MKI.

However, 36 Rafale fighter jets which India has purchased (first four will land in May) come with Meteor air-to-air missiles that have a range of 150 kilometers. The PAF does not have missiles to counter the Meteors.

Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said that Balakot air strike showed there exists a space below the conventional conflict boundaries, where IAF can be utilised for targeting, yet have controlled escalation.

He said that Pakistan Air Force “Operation Swift Retort" in retaliation to Balakot air strike was designed primarily for their own domestic audience and was fundamentally tailored to seek de-escalation.

He said that PAF did not achieve any target and they were in a hurry to disengage.