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DEFENCE:
HELICOPTERS
Vulnerable
Vintages
Another
factor tormenting the choppers is the age factor-the prime reason for
MIG-21 crashes too. Both the workhorses, the Cheetah and the MI-17, are
of 1970s vintage. The MI-8, in fact, is a design of the 1960s.
The IAF
has also not been able to deploy the right helicopter according to the
threat perception. Take for instance the MI-35 attack helicopter. The
IAF bought 40 of these but obviously the purchase was made without anticipating
exigencies like Kargil. The MI-35 has a serious limitation-it cannot perform
above 10,000 ft rendering it useless in Kargil-like situations. It also
has a significant shortcoming-due to its large heat signature it is vulnerable
to shoulder-fired missiles. Worse, it is isn't equipped to fight in the
night. The IAF is now upgrading the
MI-35 with
help from Israel Aircraft Industries to enable them to fight in all conditions.
However, the IAF remains handicapped with no credible attack choppers
for forward locations. In a war with Pakistan, Indian armour would have
to cope with Pakistan's 20 Cobra attack helicopters armed with deadly
TOW tank-busting missiles.
Adding to
the flak is the shortage of senior instructors at Hakimpet air force base
near Hyderabad, where the IAF trains chopper pilots. This is not a problem
that can be solved overnight. Says a senior officer at Air Headquarters:
"Helicopters are not as sexy as fighters; the best talent always
goes to fighter squadrons."
The problems
of the helicopter squadrons are made worse by the delay in the arrival
of the indigenously built Advance Light Helicopter (ALH). The ALH is more
than a year behind schedule and is unlikely to be inducted into the air
force soon. Says deputy director of the Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics
limited (HAL), Ashok Baweja: "US sanctions have pulled the ALH back
by a year but we have now replaced US engines with the French Turbomecha
and hope to have flight trials this year."
With the
Cheetah and the MI-17 overstretched, the MI-35 unavailable in high altitudes,
the MI-26 heavy-lift in refit and the ALH delayed, it is clear that the
IAF faces nothing short of a crisis in its helicopter squadrons.
To take
the pressure off the existing MI-17 fleet and to provide it with much
needed flexibility, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has put in an order
for 40 additional late model MI-17 1-V, the first batch of which has already
arrived from Russia. The new model has advanced avionics, laser guided
missiles and a more powerful engine. The IAF will have two squadrons of
the MI-17 1-V in the Kargil and Siachen sectors by the end of 2001. Says
the former chief of air staff, air marshall S.K. Mehra: "There is
no question that the MI-17 fleet's commitments have gone up and the IAF
needs the new chopper as soon as they can acquire it."
But by any
reckoning it is a case of gross mismanagement; the mod is buying as many
as 40 new MI-17s yet not deploying the available heavy-lift option-the
MI-26s-to the full. With India's neighbourhood getting even more unfriendly
and with helicopters being used in counter insurgency roles, the IAF will
do well to urgently address the crisis that hovers over its chopper fleet.
-with
Uday Mahurkar and Rakesh
Krishnan
Pg.1
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The
Indian industry has increased its decibel level of whining. Instead, it
should get the government to deliver, says INDIA TODAY Associate Editor
V. Shankar Aiyar in 
