New Delhi: Asked if Beijing’s potentially selling fifth-generation fighter aircraft to Pakistan would give Islamabad an advantage over India, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh said there was a need for India to “accelerate and make sure we are not found wanting”.
Speaking at the India Today conclave on Saturday (March 8), he also said that the air force has ‘not given a thought’ about whether to procure the American fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets that US President Donald Trump claimed would ultimately be sold to India.
At the conclave, India Today journalist Gaurav Sawant said that the navy chief had spoken about China providing ships and submarines to Pakistan and noted that there were reports saying Beijing could provide Pakistan with some of its ‘older’ fifth-generation jets.
When asked if this would provide Islamabad with an advantage, the air force chief answered that it could.
“Yes, it will give them an advantage if we don’t catch up with that technology,” Air Chief Marshal Singh said.
Acknowledging that there were open-source intelligence reports of Pakistan and China being in talks for fifth-generation aircraft, he added that “we need to accelerate and make sure we are not found wanting”.
“Again, this is actually a cat-and-mouse game which will keep happening. Maybe if we can anticipate it a little earlier, we can … push ourselves to go to that stage before they reach [it], nothing like it,” he also said.
Upon being asked by India Today’s Rahul Kanwal if it would be a good idea for the air force to procure F-35s or if the jets would be too expensive, the air chief marshal said a decision has not been made on this front.
“No comments. Actually, we have not looked at it. It cannot be that we just look at something–we are not going to buy some washing machine or refrigerator for home,” he replied.
He added: “We have to analyse an aircraft fully. What are the requirements and what comes along with it–Obviously cost is a part of it. We can’t just say that ‘ten F-35s is good enough’ or whatever.
“So we have not given it a thought. There is no offer which has been made.”
The air force, he continued, is yet to analyse a study recently concluded by a committee headed by the Union defence secretary – whose remit is to suggest ways to address the air force’s waning operational capabilities – and prepare a “roadmap”.
Sawant then asked if India would end up in a situation where Islamabad would receive fifth-generation fighter jets and the Indian air force would require “an interim measure”.
Air Chief Marshal Singh said: “We may have to go in for something which is maybe [an] off-the-shelf purchase, maybe something Make in India, while we are developing our own AMCA,” referring to India’s planned fifth-generation aircraft known as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft.
“Maybe there will be a decision to buy something from outside … with some indigenous content which is progressively increasing. Maybe having them collaborate with us to develop our AMCA at a faster pace,” he continued.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last month, Trump claimed that the US was “paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters”.
But the Indian side downplayed the offer, saying it was too early to decide as the acquisition process had yet to begin.
Senior Indian force personnel have raised doubts over whether such a buy would serve the air force’s operational and financial interests.
One two-star officer told The Wire that F-35s “are hugely costly to procure in times of shrinking budgets and extremely pricey to operate”.
There is also the issue that US restrictions on how its materiel can be used by recipient countries means the air force will be unable to perform the jugaad that it does – to its benefit – in retrofitting and adapting material from, say, Russia or France, they pointed out.
