INDIA'S STEALTH DOGFIGHT

WITH DECLINING NUMBERS OF FIGHTER JETS AND CHINA AND TURKEY OFFERING THEIR STEALTH AIRCRAFT TO PAKISTAN, THE INDIAN AIR FORCE NEEDS FIFTH GENERATION JETS. THE CHOICE IS BETWEEN THE AMERICAN F-35 AND THE RUSSIAN SU-57. OR MORE RAFALES...

- Pradip R. Sagar

WILL IT BE THE US-MADE F-35 OR THE RUSSIAN SU-57E? Or more of the French Rafales? An important decision awaits the Indian Air Force (IAF), and it must be taken fast. Come September, the IAF bids adieu to its legendary MiG-21 fighter jets. With this, the IAF's fighter strength will dwindle from 31 to 29 squadrons—a far cry from the 42 sanctioned. Of the IAF's current fighter force, Jaguars, Mirage-2000s and MiG-29s will also be phased out by the end of the decade. This exodus will leave the IAF heavily reliant on the Sukhoi Su-30MKI and the LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Tejas Mk 1A. The IAF had ordered 180 of the latter, the first batch of which is expected to enter service in 2026. But the Sukhoi, Tejas and India's two squadrons of Rafale (each squadron has 18-20 aircraft) are all 4.5 generation jets, at a time when leading air powers are investing in fifth-generation stealth fighters and even developing sixth-gen ones. Here, too, India is at a disadvantage, for its indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), a fifth-gen stealth fighter, is expected to be inducted only around 2035. Among existing fifth-gen stealth aircraft, the choice for India boils down between the F-35 and the Su-57E. Both the US and Russia have offered New Delhi their respective aircraft.

Things are different in the neighbourhood. Pakistan and China are upgrading their air forces. China operates two fifth-gen stealth aircraft—the Chengdu J-20 and the Shenyang J-35—and has reportedly offered Pakistan a version of the latter. Turkey, too, has offered its new KAAN stealth fighter jet to Islamabad, raising the prospect of a China-Pakistan-Turkey triangle of fifth-gen capability in India's backyard. IAF chief Air Chief Marshal A.P.

SU-57 FELON

Fifth generation, twin engine, stealth multirole fighter

ROLE: Aerial combat, ground and maritime strikes

SPEED:Mach 2 (2,400 kmph)