After Operation Sindoor, the Army and Navy now view the IAF as not a supporting arm, but the spearhead of India's warfighting capability, capable of decisive outcomes across domains, explains Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
The Indian Air Force will carry out a two-day mega military exercise along the border with Pakistan from Wednesday that will involve all the frontline fighter jets including Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar aircraft. The exercise is taking place amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. India's civil aviation authorities have already issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for the major air exercise that will largely take place along the southern and western section of the Indo-Pakistan border. India's frontline fighter jets including the Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000, Tejas and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft are set to feature in the exercise.
'When one air force (India's) hits the other's airbases with impunity and that air force (Pakistan's) is not able to respond, then the air force, which has put the other's airbases out of commission, has won.'
The fresh negotiations with Israeli authorities concerned for procurement of the two Phalcon AWACS come in the midst of India's bitter border row with China in high-altitude eastern Ladakh.
The western media is going all out to prove that India suffered a major setback in Operation Sindoor and how China helped shoot down Indian fighter jets. One of the articles published in British newspaper Telegraph stated Operation Sindoor shattered the myth of India's air dominance over Pakistan. "The Pakistani Air Force, aided by Chinese targeting satellites and AWACS executed a sensor-fusion kill. The Rafales never got a lock, never even saw their adversary. When the missiles hit, it was already over," wrote the British Newspaper, The Telegraph.
The attacks against the Pakistani air force have taken them at least five years back and caused great damage to them and their Chinese and Turkish inventory of weapons.
'The lesson Beijing would have learned is that there is, cost-benefit wise, no better option than to keep the Pakistan military supplied with its most advanced armaments, certain that in hostilities with India these would be used for maximum effect.'
The 76th Republic Day Parade concluded with a memorable display of aerial acrobatics, including a stunning victory roll by Rafale aircraft and daring maneuvers by Sukhoi-30 fighter jets. The flypast, featuring over 40 aircraft, captivated the large crowd gathered along Kartavya Path, including President Droupadi Murmu, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The parade showcased the strength and skill of the Indian Air Force and provided a spectacular visual experience for the audience.
Pakistan has become the second country in South Asia after India to have inducted the sophisticated surveillance aircraft, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) in its Air Force.
The Indian Air Force will now have to wait till March end for Israeli airborne early warning system, whose induction has already been delayed by 16 months. "The Israeli Phalcon airborne early warning and control system (AWACS), which will provide the IAF an eye in the skies to perform surveillance and reconnaissance roles, will arrive in India only by March end," a senior IAF officer told PTI in New Delhi on Friday.
The Indian Air Force wants to buy unspecified numbers of Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft from Israel in addition to the three already contracted in 2004 for $370 million each, it was reported. The air force request is near finalisation at the Ministry of Defence, sources said, but the price of the additional AWACS planes is yet to be negotiated.
The revival of the AWACS project comes after five years DRDO's HS-748 technology demonstrator aircraft crashed killing some DRDO scientists and technicians in Tamil Nadu in 1999.
The AWACS is set to redefine battlefield surveillance, and will totally revolutionise the way IAF operates.
So far, only the US, Russia, Israel, China, United Kingdom, France and Australia have the system operational in their air forces, and its induction has propelled IAF into that major league.
The Phalcon radars, developed by Israel, would be fitted in Russian-built planes.
The AWACS, mounted on a Russian Ilyushin-76 airframe, will look deep into our neighbouring countries and detect incoming missiles and aircrafts from hundreds of kilometres away in all-weather conditions. It will also help detect troop build-up in territories around us.
The AWACS will provide IAF means to keep a tab on enemy aircraft and missiles taking off from across the border, thereby enhancing response time.
India may have created history by inducting its first Airborne Warning and Control System in New Delhi on Thursday but the IAF is planning to replace the Russian IL-76 aircraft with some other 'modern aircraft' as the platform for the system in future.
As crowds gather to watch this year's Olympic opening ceremony in London, highly trained eyes on the ground and in the sky will be keeping tabs on every aircraft over the southeast of Britain.
Drug sale volumes are almost stuck at pre-pandemic levels but price growth has improved value, data from market research agency Pharmarack AWACS showed. The Indian pharmaceutical market's (IPM) volumes in April 2023 grew by 0.21 per cent when compared to April 2019. Key therapy areas like cardiac, anti-diabetic and vitamins recorded negative volume or consumption growth, while respiratory, anti-infectives, and pain and analgesics had positive growth from April 2019 to April this year.
The triennial exercise will take place for two hours and fifteen minutes during the day, dusk and night, he said.
The IAF is taking these emergency measures in the wake of reports that its fighting squadron strength has plunged to a low of 39 squadrons and reports that Pakistan is on the threshold of buying more F-16 fighters from United States.
Pakistan is evaluating, among other options, three or four Chinese surface-to-air missiles, including the advanced 'HQ-18', Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman told China Daily.
In all likelihood, the next conventional Chinese attack on India would be preceded by a massive cyber attack designed to cripple Indian networks and interfere with our disaster-relief programmes.
Growth has been under pressure since the lockdowns related to Covid-19 started and fresh prescription generations slowed.
"The first squadron is being deployed in the Punjab sector. The batteries of the first squadron would be capable of taking care of aerial threats from both Pakistan and China," government sources told ANI.
Codeine-based formulations are under the scanner for misuse as a narcotic product.
When compared to the domestic sales of April 2019, the growth is around 37 per cent. However, compared to the previous month (March), the growth is 18.4 per cent.
For the first time, Airborne Warning and Control System are likely to be deployed in New Delhi on Republic Day for vigil from the skies during the parade where US President Barack Obama will be the chief guest.
The Indian Air Force came out with flying colours in their brush with the world's most technological advanced airpower -- the United States of America.
A statement issued by the Pakistan Air Force said the Saab-2000 aircraft landed at an operational base on Saturday and would shortly be inducted into the fleet.
Only 75 aircraft were deployed to support the invasion, observes Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
India will get its first 'eye in the sky', the Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control Systems aircraft on May 18, which will provide the Indian Air Force means to track incoming missiles and look deep into the neighbouring countries without violating any air space.
Sources said the equipment is being brought to India through both sea and air routes.
'Unlike on the western and eastern borders where there is an enemy at the gate, here there is an invisible enemy which is building its own capability and can come into play at a time and place of his choosing.'
'During the aerial engagement, one MiG 21 Bison of the IAF shot down an F-16 in Nowshera sector,' the IAF said in a statement.
This is the first time since Independence that a new operational branch is being created, Chaudhari said in his speech on the occasion of 90th anniversary celebrations of the IAF.
Overall slowdown in the economy and growing volumes of unbranded generic medicines in the domestic market are behind poor sales.
India will recieve the first of three Israeli airborne early warning command and control (AWAC) systems on Sunday. With the induction of the Israel Aircraft Industries's Phalcon radar system, the Indian air force will become the first in South Asia to posses advanced AWAC aircraft, the israelnationnews.com website reported.
Drugs that are used to treat Covid or used by people as immunity boosters have seen a jump in sales and, in turn, rankings.
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