Chapter 727 Is it really better to rent than to buy?

This humiliating defeat over the Siachen Glacier has become the biggest topic in the Indian Air Force community in the past two days.

In this regard, Colonel Sumit Prajan, the commander of the 7th Squadron who personally participated in this battle, once said privately that if the Air Force fails like this, it will probably lose face...

……

"So, Colonel, do you think that the other party should have obtained information about the number, model and detachment strategy of our aircraft from the Chinese in advance, so that they could respond in advance?"

In a conference room at the Western Air Force Command, several Air Force leaders, including Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Klimpa, and Chief of Staff of the Western Air Command Lieutenant General Bhadauliya, were listening to Prayan's comments on the past few days. Review and analysis of the previous air combat operation.

"That's right, otherwise those few Chinese Air Force fighter jets wouldn't have appeared near us so coincidentally."

The latter nodded very firmly:

"Although they certainly couldn't command each other directly and could only conduct a one-time ventilation before takeoff, the tactics we formulated in advance were too rigid and no adjustments were made during the entire execution process, so in the end they were overthrown by those who had been prepared for it. The opponent made the first move."

"Actually, even so, relying on the performance advantages of our fighters, we could have maintained a balanced confrontation. However, since there is no data link and no command that can have an overview of the overall situation, I can only rely on radio to obtain radar information in the cabin. Fans, as well as target information beyond the search distance, delayed the most critical minute of time..."

On the surface, Prayan's report is acknowledging his command problems, but if you analyze it a little deeper, you will find that he completely removed himself from it.

Of course, this time it was indeed a crime other than war.

"So, your conclusion is..."

The first person to ask the question was Admiral Klimpa, who was sitting in the middle opposite.

Of course, this can only be regarded as a routine question.

However, Prajan did not beat around the bush, but directly gave his conclusion:

"In the absence of a common data link among the three armed forces, effective air situational awareness and command cannot be achieved by relying solely on fighter radars and radios. We need to build plateau radar stations like those in China, or early warning and command aircraft."

This passage seems to give three options, but in fact it is not -

A common data link between the three services is something that even the US military in the late 90s did not dare to think about.

In fact, it was more than 16 years later when the U.S. military realized link was fully universal under test conditions, when Chang Haonan was reborn.

And the plateau radar station...

Just look at the topographic map and you will know that the Himalayas rise almost vertically in the border area. The Indian side happens to be in a lower altitude area and does not have this condition at all.

Therefore, the only option that is really feasible is to build an early warning aircraft.

At this moment, the entire conference room fell into silence.

At this juncture, the Indian Army's early warning aircraft project is a matter that is not convenient for public discussion.

A few months ago, in January 1999, the Indian-made HS1 platform early warning aircraft, which had previously invested heavily and had high hopes, crashed due to unreasonable aerodynamic design.

Since then, until now, Congress and the top military officials have once again been locked in a debate over whether to create it themselves or find outsiders to solve it.

This kind of debate largely involves the internal interests of different groups and is not entirely a military issue. Therefore, generals who do not want to cause trouble for themselves often subconsciously avoid such topics.

"Are there no other ways to improve it?"

Klingpa really didn't want to get involved with those old men who didn't wear military uniforms.

"No."

Prayan shook his head decisively, and then added:

"As for the role that early warning aircraft can play in air combat, I think no one in the entire Air Force knows better than you..."

It was quiet again.

Looking at the generals who had been silent for a long time, Prayang sighed in his heart and had no choice but to use the ultimate move he had prepared:

"In addition, considering the Chinese people's incredibly fast response this time, I suspect that they have deployed aircraft on a regular basis at the plateau airport."

"If this is the case, then the Chinese Air Force will have an altitude advantage of nearly 3000 meters over us as soon as it takes off. Combined with the early warning command capabilities provided by the plateau early warning radar..."

The colonel didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning of the second half of the sentence was already very obvious.

This is absolutely unacceptable to Indians who aspire to become a great and powerful nation.

"Okay, Colonel, matters about China are outside the scope of this discussion."

Bhadauliya next to him said and waved his hand:

"We'll be here today. You can go back and rest first."

……

After Prayan left, Klingpa, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, took a deep breath, then leaned on the back of the chair with his arms folded, showing a complicated expression.

The reason why the former said that just now is because Klimpa is the first pilot of the Indian Air Force to shoot down an enemy aircraft under the command of an early warning aircraft.

Because of this victory, he completed the leap from senior pilot to senior commander.

And this, we have to mention, a certain big country in South Asia has repeatedly struggled with early warning aircraft.

In 1971, in order to cope with the imminent conflict, the Indian Air Force wet-leased a Tu-126 early warning aircraft from the Soviet Air Force.

It was also because of the help of this aircraft that, while operating behind the scenes, it achieved nearly twice the results of its opponents.

The conflict that year also ended with India's victory.

Logically speaking, after such a battle, they should be able to intuitively feel the value of early warning aircraft as a combat power multiplier. Even if they do not start self-research, they still have to buy a few and use them first.

However, the Indians' choice was to further establish a good relationship with the Soviet army and plan to continue renting when needed next time...

This time it is not even considered that building is worse than buying, but that buying is worse than renting in a literal sense.

Later, after many efforts by the Air Force, Stan Aviation finally launched an ASP plan for self-developed early warning aircraft. The product is the HS748AEW&C mentioned earlier.

As a result, because Party A refused to lower the performance indicators, the designer had to install a huge radar with a diameter of 7 meters on a small aircraft about the same size as the Yun-7.5 (for comparison, the E3 and A50 are only 9 meters) , causing flight performance to plummet.

Finally crashed a few months ago.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this ASP plan, which has high ambitions and low power, can no longer continue.

We are currently in the separation stage after the project failed.

Party B accuses Party A of being too ambitious and the targets proposed are simply talking in dreams and are unrealistic. Party A says that Party B has received so much money and is unwilling to do anything, fearing that it will swallow all the money.

"What do you think about Colonel Prayan's suggestion just now?"

After a few minutes, Klingpa sat upright again and asked his colleagues sitting on either side of him for advice.

For a moment, no one answered.

Finally, Badauliya, whose military rank was second only to Klimpa's, spoke:

"Although his statement just now inevitably had the intention of shirk responsibility for himself, but..."

The lieutenant general hesitated deliberately when he said this.

After all, Prayang is his subordinate. Saying nice things to the other party at this time will inevitably lead to the suspicion of protecting him.

After confirming that his boss did not show any dissatisfaction, he continued:

"But I think the problem the colonel just mentioned does exist."

"In the past, the Chinese could not deploy aircraft on the plateau, so the terrain was an advantage for us. The radar on the snow line was at best a trouble, not a threat, but now... the situation may have changed. "

Klingpa naturally understood the implication:

"Do you also think the Chinese have moved their planes to the plateau?"

This kind of thing is naturally difficult to explain clearly when there is a lack of satellite reconnaissance means and the MiG-25 does not dare to fly around casually.

But Bhadauliya did not answer directly:

"Chief of Staff, the MiG-25 was shot down two years ago, but it has not been investigated clearly yet..."

This suggestion was extremely effective.

Klingpa's face began to look uncertain, and he held his chin with one hand, lost in thought.