India has been very anxious recently. Since the confrontation between the Chinese and Indian armies near the Indian controlled line in southern Tibet occurred again in December last year, the Indian media have denounced China in words and words, clamoring to”teach China a lesson”. In fact, the most exciting thing about this incident was the Indian Air Force. Just after the Indian media announced the incident, the Indian Air Force held several days of military exercises in the Indian controlled southern Tibet region and designated a no fly zone. The Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force claimed to show China the strength of the Indian Air Force. This whistle blowing reaction was immediately hit by Indian media. India’s New Delhi TV released some commercial satellite photos at the end of last year, and found that a large number of fighter planes and drones had been deployed in several military airports built by China in Tibet, and the Indian Air Force could not take advantage of them.
(The J-20 fighter that has begun mass production is the biggest nightmare of the Indian Air Force)
Not all Indian military personnel are as confident as these people. Recently, the retired Indian Air Force Marshal Anil Chopra published an article in the Eurasian Times, asking how the Indian Air Force is prepared to respond to the rapidly advancing Chinese Air Force. The article was full of frustration and anxiety. Chopra pointed out that the operational objective of the Indian Air Force is to conduct a 30 day (fierce) or 60 day (normal) war on two fronts at the same time. These two fronts face Pakistan and China respectively. This goal is absurd. Who gave the Indian Air Force the courage to defeat the Chinese Air Force in 30 or 60 days?
What discouraged Chopra was that, in order to achieve this goal, the Indian Congress once authorized the Indian Air Force to set up 42 fighter squadrons. However, the Indian Air Force currently has only 30 fighter squadrons, which is the lowest level in history, including 2″Rafale” fighter squadrons, 12 Su-30MKI squadrons, 3 MiG-21 squadrons, 3 MiG-29 and Mirage 2000 squadrons, 5″Jaguar” attack squadrons and 2″Guanghui” fighter squadrons. A squadron of the Indian Air Force usually consists of 18 to 24 fighter jets. However, he was confident in the Rafale fighter imported from India. He said that the Rafale fighter was equipped with the Meteor short-range air-to-air missile, the over the horizon Mika air-to-air missile and the modern electronic warfare kit, which were much better than China’s J-10, J-11, Su-27 and Su-35 fighter jets.
However, this statement itself is cowardly, because he never mentioned the J-16 and J-20, the main fighters of the Chinese Air Force. Unlike the”gust” in the mouth of Indian netizens and some politicians, when Indian Air Force officials expressed their views on the media, almost no one dared to say that”gust” could fight with the J-20. It seems that they still have some self-awareness.
(The Indian Economic Times attached J-20 photos to articles that have nothing to do with China)
Coincidentally, the Economic Times of India recently published a news report on the establishment of a cooperative relationship between General Atomics and Bharat Forging Co., Ltd. of India, which will produce aviation structural parts in India. The wonderful thing is that there is not a word about the report of China in this full text, but the picture is a J-20 fighter plane, which shows how much psychological pressure the J-20 has brought to India.
In fact, the number of deployments of the PLA J-20 fighter jets to Tibet is not large, and the deployment time is usually not long, because India has never been our main strategic direction. However, it can be seen from the cautious remarks of the Indian Air Force that after China began to mass produce J-20 fighter jets, the scale effect of the current J-20 fleet has made the Indian army feel great pressure. According to the speculation of foreign media, the number of J-20 fighter jets received by the PLA Air Force is between 160 and 200, which is almost the same as the number of F-22 fighter jets of the US Air Force.
(The Korn Ferry fighter is now the representative of India’s”self-reliance”.)
But India, especially the Indian Air Force, at least said”nothing, nothing”. The Indian Air Force is trying to find the entry point of”belittling” the Chinese Air Force. India claims that the Chinese Air Force currently has 1700 fighter jets and bombers, of which only 800 are of the fourth generation or above, including the fifth generation J-20. In fact, the number of our J-10 and J-16 now adds up to more than 800, but this kind of devaluation has not brought much courage to the Indian side. In his article, Chopra imagined the future of the Indian Air Force, and it became more and more obvious that the Indian Air Force was inferior in quality and quantity to the Chinese Air Force, and this disadvantage was growing.
The MiG-21 fighter plane of the Indian Air Force will be phased out by 2025, while by 2030 only four squadrons of”Korn Ferry” MK1A fighter planes will be added, at best one squadron of”Korn Ferry” MK2. Therefore, Chopra cried loudly that India must strengthen its air force construction. Of course, just like all Indian netizens in their fantasies, his language is full of”if, then,””will,””must,” and whether it can be realized is unknown. For example, he said that if the Indian government can make a decision in time, it may serve 1-2 squadrons of imported fighter aircraft by 2030; For example, he said that India’s military industry must follow the principle of”self-reliance”. By 2025, India’s military industry will have a turnover of 25 billion US dollars and an export of aerospace and defense products and services of 5 billion US dollars.”Although the goal is ambitious, it can be achieved”; For example, he said that India’s aero-engine projects are still struggling, so India must transform pure research into products that can be actually introduced into the armed forces.
(AMCA stealth fighter is the dream of the Indian Air Force)
But even if all this is achieved, the prospects for the Indian Air Force are not good. It is estimated that if the Indian government makes a timely decision and all operations are carried out as planned, the Indian Air Force will not have 42 fighter squadrons until 2038. The final state of the Indian Air Force is to have 14 Su-30 MKI squadrons, 2 Mirage 2000 squadrons and 2 MiG 29 squadrons, 12 squadrons for various variants of”Guanghui”, 2 squadrons for”Rafale” fighters, 6 squadrons for new fighter jets, and 4 squadrons for advanced medium fighter jets (AMCA).
Not to mention whether AMCA can be built in 2038, the sixth generation fighter planes of the Chinese Air Force will definitely be in service by that time, and there may be more than 800 J-20 fighters. At that time, the Indian Air Force may have to be more anxious.
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