Rafale will enhance India’s Air Power Clout

Context

The Indian Air Force has got its deadliest fighter jets after a long wait.

Background

As five Rafale jets landed at the Ambala air force station, there was a sense of elation in the military establishment amidst tensions along the border with China. The aircraft will be a part of 17 Squadron, called as Golden Arrows, which was resurrected on 10 Sep 19. The Squadron was originally raised at Air Force Station, Ambala on 01 Oct 1951. The last time that India had acquired a new type of foreign-made fighter jet was in 1997, with the Russian Sukhoi-30. Since then, India's indigenous LCA Tejas joined the fleet.

Indian finalised the order of 36 Rafale jets from France, with India-specific enhancements, at a cost of Rs. 59,000 crore in September 2017 as an emergency purchase given the declining combat strength of the IAF. The IAF is down with 31 squadrons against the sanctioned strength of 43—the number deemed sufficient to meet a two-front (China and Pakistan) challenge.

The delivery of 36 Rafale jets is expected to be completed by May 2022.

Importance of Rafale for India

After the last Balakot strike by India, it was realised to include Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) in the Air Force fleet, in the shortest time.

Pakistan has the multi-role F-16 in its inventory. But it is only as good as the Mirage 2000 of India. As far as China is concerned, it has a J-20 fighter jet, which is a fifth generation aircraft. Therefore, in the midst of ongoing skirmishes with China over the LAC, it was necessary for India to acquire Rafale at the earliest possible time.

The Rafale (literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by the French aircraft manufacturer, Dassault Aviation.

With its avionics, radars and weapon systems, the Rafale is the most potent aircraft in South Asia, much ahead of the F-16s that Pakistan uses or even the JF-20, the 5th generation stealth aircraft of China, which is yet to see combat.

The Rafales have arrived at a critical time, as India and China have been at odds along the border for the last three months. We are aiming to deploy the Rafale along the border with China.

Features of the Rafale Fighter Jet

It is a Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), Touted as an "omnirole" fighter, the 4.5 generation Rafale can take up several missions during a single flight including air-defence, air-superiority, anti-access and area-denial, recon, close-air support, dynamic targeting, air-to-ground precision strikes, anti-ship attacks, nuclear deterrence and buddy-to-buddy refuelling. The Rafale can reach almost twice the speed of sound with a top speed of 1.8 Mach.

Its weapon package, radars and avionics make it a “game-changer" in the region if pitted against China’s J-20 and Pakistan’s F-16. While the Rafale has already proven its combat potential in missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Mali, the J-20 has not experienced any combat mission so far.

The IAF has also made a last-minute purchase of HAMMER (Highly Agile and Maneuverable Munition Extended Range) missiles in a bid to add to the fighter jet’s lethality. HAMMER is an air-to-ground precision missile that has a range of 60 km—perfectly suited for high-altitude operations.

The Rafale’s cold engine start capability allows it to operate from high-altitude airbases including Leh. Its weapons package, provided by MBDA, is what makes it a "game-changer" in the region is Meteor BVR air-to-air missiles, SCALP cruise missiles and MICA will together give India an edge India over its adversaries.

The Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, is the Rafale’s most critical weapon. It can fly faster, fly longer and manoeuvre more than any other missile giving the Meteor the ability to chase down and destroy agile hostile fighters at the farthest of ranges. As a result, the Meteor has a no-escape zone many times greater than any other air-to-air missile.

Explaining about the SCALP deep-strike cruise missile, MBDA claims the stealthy weapon has proven repeatedly in combat its unerring ability to strike hardened and protected targets deep within hostile territory without the need for the Rafale to enter hostile airspace.

SCALP and MICA missile systems are only missiles in the world having extraordinary features which makes Rafale as a silent killer as the target has little time to react or to deploy effective countermeasures.

Major Fighter Aircrafts in Indian Air Force

SU-30 MKI: Twin seater twin engine multirole fighter of Russian origin which carries One X 30mm GSH gun alongwith 8000 kg external armament. It has a max speed of 2500 km/hr (Mach 2.35).

Mirage-2000: A single seater air defence and multi-role fighter of French origin powered by a single engine can attain max speed of 2495 km/hr (Mach 2.3).

MiG-29: Twin engine, single seater air superiority fighter aircraft of Russian origin capable of attaining max. speed of 2445 km per hour (Mach-2.3).

MiG-27: Single engine, single seater tactical strike fighter aircraft of Russian origin having a max. speed of 1700 km/hr (Mach 1.6).

MiG-21 BISON: Single engine, single seater multirole fighter/ground attack aircraft of Russian origin which forms the back-bone of the IAF. It has a max speed of 2230 km/hr (Mach 2.1).

Jaguar: A twin-engine, single seater deep penetration strike aircraft of Anglo-French origin which has a max. speed of 1350 km /hr (Mach 1.3).

LCA Tejas: The indigenously-manufactured Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is a supersonic, single-seat, single-engine multirole light fighter jet, max. speed Mach 1.8.

What Next?

Since India aspired to play a more dominant role in the region, the induction of force-multipliers became a priority of the IAF. In the nuclearised region, Indians do not see true surprise attacks by Pakistan and China and only “limited” conflicts are being anticipated in which the role of the IAF has become even more critical. In such scenarios, IAF would be expected to accomplish three objectives, first is to successful completion of all the assigned tasks, secondly, neutralize whatever the adversary does, and lastly, be able to effectively support all the other armed services.

India also requires completing its Indian Air Force Modernization Plan of 2020 by fulfilling its total strength of 44 squadrons of fighter jets which is still far away.

Connecting the Article:

Question for Prelims

With reference to the Rafale fighter jet, consider the following statements:

1. It is a fifth generation fighter jet.
2. Its cold engine start capability allows it to operate from high-altitude airbases including Leh.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Question for Mains

The ongoing tension with China requires a serious concern for safeguarding India's territorial integrity. In this context discuss the role of Indian Air Power in India’s security.