When we talk about Air Force, the first thing that comes to our mind are the supersonic aircrafts and their pilots. Our perception is based on their chivalry, bravery and swiftness. Air Force became a crucial part of combat after technological advancement and the resulting transformation of conventional warfare. Thus, for each country, air force became a requisite.
The Indian Air Force was established in 1932 by the British as an auxiliary force of the Royal Air Force, in recognition of the need for an air force. Upon India’s independence, its assets were divided between India and Pakistan.
It was only in 1950, when the Constitution of India was enacted, that the suffix Royal was dropped and the air force was renamed as the “Indian Air Force’. Since then, the air force has seen many upgrades and inclusions. Its capabilities and subsequent contributions made towards the security of the nation are simply unparalleled.
However, the defence always needs to be enhanced according to current trends and technological advancements. The Indian Air Force has continuously updated its doctrine to keep pace with the latest changes over time. Now, let’s examine the latest Indian Air Force doctrine in depth, covering its history, procedures and impact on the future of national security.
New Indian Air Force doctrine
On the 4th of February 2023, the Indian Air Force released its new Doctrine. The doctrine highlights significant possibilities for the future of national security. In order to understand it, let us go through some important aspects of the doctrine.
- No war, no peace situation
The Indian Air Force’s new doctrine defines the spectrum of conflict in 3 zones namely war, peace and ‘no war, no peace’. In the ever-changing geopolitical conditions of the world, the clear distinction between war and peace is blurred and hence, a new type of approach is needed to deal with the situations where war and peace both prevail.
The Indian Air Force doctrine outlines the specific actions to be taken in war, peace, and non-war non-peace (NWNP) situations based on the nature of operations, such as kinetic operations, non-kinetic operations, continuous operations and other air operations. This requires the Indian Air Force to be prepared for a broad spectrum of conflict and to effectively handle unexpected challenges in grey zone conflicts.
- Joint Military Strategy
The doctrine emphasizes the use of air power as a key component of joint military strategy, along with the other two forces. It defines Air Strategy as the coordination, development, and deployment of aerospace assets to achieve national security objectives. The doctrine underscores the interconnection between the air, naval, and armed forces strategies, all of which are integrated under the Joint Military Strategy, which is guided by the Grand Strategy.
- Aerospace Power
The doctrine refers to air power as aerospace power, in line with the address given by Chief of the Air Staff, Vivek Ram Chaudhary, during an event at FICCI. Chaudhary highlighted the lack of military-civil fusion in space technology and stated that India is lagging behind other countries that have a robust space ecosystem. He emphasized the need for space situational awareness, which would enable India to detect hostile manoeuvres by adversaries’ space objects. The doctrine also emphasized that defensive and offensive counter-operations are “inextricably linked.
- Transformation from Contemporary to Future Ready Force
The doctrine looks forward to transform the Indian Air Force to be future ready and sustain that readiness with the changes across the globe. Some of the measures that must be taken for that are-
- Shift from ‘threat based and demanded’ to ‘capability demanded’ force requirement. The air force simply needs capability enhancement at its best instead of the enhancement made to counter the threats. This can be done through large scale investment in indigenous equipment, technology.
- The development of technology enabled tools for the operations, techno-logistics and administration with enough possibility of future accretions. It should include plug and play capabilities for Indian Army and Indian Navy.
- Development of indigenous R&D capability through public-private partnership in information, communication, cyber and aviation technologies.
- Establishment of indigenous think tank for doctrine evaluation, strategy formulation and strategic communication.
- Establishment of robust joint structures to enable right joint training and operations while maintaining service specific core competencies.
The background of the revision
For the revised doctrine, Chief of Air Staff, Vivek Ram Chaudhary said that network-centric warfare has now became basic to Indian Air Force power projections. It is the Integrated Air Command and Control System guide that helps in the conduction of offensive and defensive operations.
As ‘No war, no peace’ is the situation persistent in most of the world, the doctrine says, it is the need of the hour that the Indian Air force starts to work towards shaping the behaviour of external threats. In Indian context, it was evident in the situations at borders with China, where the IAF effectively demonstrated rapid air mobility and deterrence through posturing during the Eastern Ladakh standoff with Chinese People Liberation Army.
The doctrine also mentions the role of Air Force during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. It justifies the need of offensive approach by quoting how the freedom for operation helped the Indian Air Force’s counter operation against the Pakistan air assets.
As per the doctrine, “The IAF was instrumental in enabling surface forces to prosecute their operations unhindered by enemy air. On the Western front, favourable air situation established by the lAF allowed offensive air operations against enemy’s armoured thrusts and provided close air support to the Indian Army in its land operations.”
This doctrine becomes more crucial at a time when the world is witnessing the war between Russia and Ukraine. Since the inception of the war, it is evident that Russian Air Force is unable to use its full air power efficiency against Ukraine.
One of the members of the doctrine team was the retired Air Marshall, Diptendu Chaudhary. Talking to Indian Express, he told that one of the factors contributing to the failure of Russia’s military strategy in its conflict with Ukraine and the prolongation of the war was its inadequate utilization of air power. This included a flawed implementation of suppression of enemy air defence and counter-air operations.
He further said, “Despite Russia’s tactical frontline aviation being under the direct control of the Operational Strategic Command (OSK)- West, it has failed to coordinate and leverage air power towards its surface campaign objectives.”
History of the Air Force doctrine
The Indian Air Force (IAF) was the first branch of the Indian armed forces to release a doctrine in 1995 with the publication of the “Air Power Doctrine of IAF.” This doctrine was revised in 2007 as the Indian Air Force Publication (IAP) 2000-07, and was further updated in 2012 with the release of an unclassified Basic Doctrine of the Indian Air Force.
The development of the doctrine is based on the Indian Air Force’s experiences in various conflicts, peace operations, and exercises, as well as military and air power theories, the operating environment, and other elements of military and national power. It also takes into account input from domestic and international experts in the field of aerospace power.
The doctrine formation takes place in a loop. “The Doctrinal Loop” works on input and produces output. The inputs pass through a sieve of Clausewitzian critical analysis. Clausewitzian analysis states that war is a means of political interaction, characterized by the use of military force, for the purpose of achieving political objectives.
The inputs in the new doctrine include external threats such as the standoffs between India and China from 2013 to 2020, the Uri and Pulwama attacks, and the military relations between Pakistan and China.
The doctrine acknowledges information warfare as a potential internal threat, in addition to addressing other national security concerns and non-combat evacuations in Yemen and Ukraine. It also focuses on the use of artificial intelligence, drones, and other technologies.
In response to these inputs, the doctrine provides feedback from the Balakot strike response, the Eastern Ladakh deployment, the 24×7 air defence deployment and joint exercises.
A roadmap to Future
Despite being considered the third strongest air force in the world, the Indian Air Force is facing challenges. The threat to its fighter squadron strength and the lack of sanction for its plan to procure 114 Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) under the “Make in India” scheme are among the challenges it faces. The current squadron strength is at an all-time low of 31, which is far below the authorized strength of 42 squadrons, each with approximately 18 fighters.
However, the reduction is due to the phasing out of old squadrons. According to Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhary, the strength is expected to increase to 35 by 2035-36. Analysis of the doctrine reveals that the Indian Air Force is positioned as a national security leader.
Through this doctrine, the air force aspires to become the world’s best and technologically most advanced air force, with the capability to handle any situation, whether it be war, peace, or the in-between state of “No war, no peace.” This is undoubtedly a major strategic shift and a new chapter in the history of the air force.
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