The retirement of the Jaguar would create a six squadron gap in the IAF's combat fleet which would cost $20 billion-$30 billion to fill.
India on Saturday successfully conducted two rounds of trials of its indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile as part of a user trial by the Indian Air Force from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore in Odisha.
The Rafale will surely be flying in Indian skies next year. But the way the BJP government has botched this will cast a shadow on defence acquisitions in the years to come.
In the light of India's increasingly 'darkening' threat environment and the convergence of strategic interests between China and Pakistan, the IAF's declining combat capabilities are a cause for concern, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The IAF has just 33 squadrons, 9 short of the 42 squadrons needed to tackle China and Pakistan together, says Ajai Shukla.
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