The recent controversy over the marginalization of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the proposed “theatricalization” of the national security landscape has led to unnecessary harshness in the higher ranks of the military leadership and exposed the hollowness of the “community” within the Indian armed forces.
Historically, the persistent claims within the Indian military are that the commonality is solid as officers from all the three services Having grown in service through shared institutions such as the National Defense Academy, the Defense Services Staff College and the National Defense College is facing an acid test.
The author has often defended the path of “jointmanship” within the Indian armed forces in the face of sharp criticism from home and abroad, but finds it impossible not to point out the cracks and rifts that arise before they cause irreparable damage.
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Rather than blaming the bureaucracy or the political establishment for not understanding the armed forces well enough, it is time to recognize the “enemy within” – a knowledge deficit in the top management that has led to a breach of trust. This serious lack of knowledge within the executive level about what the other service is bringing to the table, and the reluctance to address difficult and contentious issues until they become public, can bring the integration process to a complete standstill, which is an inescapable imperative in a global one Post-Covid regulation.
After writing extensively about war and conflict in India today, from a common perspective, the author had the beneficial position of delving deep into the thoughts of the leaders of all three services, even while serving in teaching and mentoring roles at all levels of professional military training (PME).
The Indian army remains the big gorilla in the room, struggling to make the transition from a labor-intensive “boot on the ground” and “counterinsurgency” mentality to a force that recognizes the needs of “limited and high intensity”. technology-dominated conflict environment.
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Political objectives in today’s rapidly changing geopolitical environment will always see the military as an instrument of force that can provide quick military solutions to a national security challenge. In such a milieu, mass and friction play second fiddle after speed, surprise, shock and the ability to cause disproportionate combat wear not only in the tactical combat area, but also at medium depths. This will determine the course of strategic negotiations that develop in the shadow of the war. It goes without saying that specialized air forces, built on the persistent development of core competencies, provide the best solutions for violent deterrence and punishment without stepping on the ground.
The IAF is one of the oldest air forces in the world; it has grown over the years into a highly competent and professional force with its own ethos, among the best in the world in both the kinetic and non-kinetic fields. It has a compact and succinct doctrine that, despite the severe erosion of resources, has been eagerly converted into skills.
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Most importantly, it has become a critical instrument of statecraft in recent years. The IAF’s power stems from nearly a century of accumulated air force knowledge and the ability of IAF practitioners to absorb best practices from around the world. There is a sense of pride and ethos that needs to be harnessed and not dispelled and drained as it is degraded to a support arm.
The adage that those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat the follies of the past is true in the present context. After the 1971 war, Air Chief Marshal PC Lal, the most ingenious chief of the IAF to date, rejected the concept of CDS because he believed the IAF had done enough and more to secure a high table for the IAF, one thought this was shared by the Indian Navy, which had done equally spectacularly well in combat, but did not show itself combative in integration, as it was always confident about the possession of the maritime space.
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While there is little doubt that the Indian Navy has played a constructive role in the past in agreeing to a tri-service Andaman Nicobar Command, there has never been a doubt who is in charge of responding to security challenges maritime domain.
It is regrettable that the ongoing controversy over two issues – the status and DNA of the IAF and the dismantling of several proven principles in the Air Force’s operations – appears to have cornered the IAF.
The IAF chief has to express his views having been fairly accommodating to the integration process during his near-ending term of office, bodes well and this is precisely where the lack of military knowledge and wisdom within India’s strategic community has uncovered rifts in India’s security armor.
Specialized air forces will play a significant role in any future conflict, even in combat zones such as the LAC, LoC and the deep maritime spaces of the IOR and the Indo-Pacific, which until now were only considered fertile battlefields for the Indian Army and Navy. There is little left the IAF can do to demonstrate its commitment to collaboration and the larger problems of statecraft. In recent times she has used all the means at her disposal and has always grown to cope with this situation in crises if she was asked to, be it in Balakot or the establishment of counter-pressure in Ladakh or the war against Covid-19.
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For this reason, and more so, the IAF must be a fair actor in any number of integrated structures that arise, and that requires acumen, generosity and wisdom from the senior services. Whether it is the ability to command a large theater of war on the Western Front, or the flexibility to maintain control of limited air force capabilities with a re-calibration of the operational focus to meet the needs of the theater of war commands, there are appropriate options that are considered will have to fend off a possible crisis.
(The author is a retired Air Vice Marshal for the IAF, a military historian, and the author of ‘India’s Wars’ and’ Full Spectrum.)
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