AIR DEFENCES

In the recent showdown with Pakistan, Indian air defences have proved surprisingly effective against attacks from the western neighbour. AMIT GUPTA examines how air defences have evolved, the performance of India's air defences, and what the country will need in the future to maintain an effective air defence

- AMIT GUPTA

It is one of the ironies of warfare that often it is the less heralded weapons or support systems that make a significant impact on the conflict.

In the Battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force was able to deter the numerically superior Luftwaffe because the British had installed a radar system that allowed it to effectively vector aircraft to confront the German attackers.

In the 1973 Arab-Israel war, the Arabs were able to inflict significant damages on the Israeli Air Force because of the use of shoulder-fired and ground-based missiles as well as the anti-aircraft ZSU-23-4 Shilka rapid-fire gun (although, for the record, the Israelis eventually prevailed). In the 1980s, the Iranians were able to use unheralded naval mines to restrict shipping in the Persian Gulf. Comparably, during the recent confrontation with Pakistan, Indian air defences have demonstrated an unexpectedly high level of effectiveness that will need to be further consolidated, improved and expanded to create a robust air defence.

Ever since aircraft were first used for combat missions in World War I air defences have been built to try and neutralise the aerial threat. Military historians now contend that the German air ace Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, was shot down by a detachment of Australian anti-aircraft gunners and not in aerial combat. In World War II, German anti-air defences were used, along with fighters, to inflict damage on US Air Force formations carrying out daylight raids on Germany, although one German estimate was the inaccuracy of the German weapons that somewhere between 8000-16,000 rounds of ammunition were being used to shoot down one American bomber.