Perils to preparedness

In yet another example of official apathy regarding the state of equipment provided to our armed forces, an Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter jet crashed into a house in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, killing three civilians, while the pilot ejected safely and sustained minor injuries. A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident.

It was just last July when a twin-seater trainer version of the MiG-21 Bison crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan, killing both pilots. The IAF presently has 31 fighter squadrons (with each squadron having 16-18 jets), and operates three MiG-21 squadrons in service that are set to be phased out at the rate of one each year. The authorised strength that the military actually needs is 42.5 squadrons. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence was informed by the Air Force recently that it was imperative that the MiG-21 was phased out. The aircraft procured from the Soviet Union was inducted into the force in the early 1960s, after the 1962 Chinese incursion.

Around 800 iterations of the fighter made their way into the IAF, retaining the crown of the force’s frontline fighter plane for an extended duration. These aircraft were manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a public sector aerospace and defence enterprise. However, since induction, from the 872 MiG-21s in the force, there were about 400 accidents, which witnessed the loss of around 200 pilots.

Just over a period of five years, around 55 military personnel have died in over 50 aircraft and helicopter accidents, which had drawn the attention of the country to the alarming crash rate of MiG-21 jets, as well as the Cheetah and Chetak helicopters from the 1960s. The causes of crashes that have occurred at sporadic frequencies have been pinned on technical defects or in-flight human errors.

The single-engine aircraft have outlived their operational utility ages ago. They require high maintenance and are crippled by the absence of modern avionics and safety features. Couple this with the unavailability of high quality spare parts, and below par training and supervision provided to both pilots and technicians, and it’s a recipe for disaster.

The armed forces have expressed a need for 498 new light utility choppers since the past 20 years with an aim to replace the existing, but obsolete Cheetah and Chetak fleets. These helicopters are nowhere in sight. This year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha, had pointed out significant delays in the supply of 40 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) by HAL, which are replacements for the MiG-21. The LCA programme, which was initiated in 1983 was supposed to deliver an order of 123 aircraft as against the 40 currently in service.

The IAF’s combat readiness, and India’s defence planning and modernisation programmes are being called into question, owing to the slow pace at which ageing fleets are retired. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is putting pressure on our forces as our orders for new MiG 29 and Su-30 MKIs are stuck in limbo. The demand-supply gap for indigenously made aircraft has widened due to non-adherence to mission-critical timelines.

Expediting local production and spreading out India’s investments in defence procurement is the need of the hour. Employing a robust mechanism of checks and balances, properly fixing accountability, and ensuring airworthiness is imperative to keep India’s airspace incident-free, our borders secure, and our pilots and citizens safe.