AWACS will change Asia's military dynamics

[abdulrafi]

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Toronto, ON, Canada, — Three weeks ago, an Indian AWACS – airborne warning and control system – plane made its debut over New Delhi. Two more are on order and will arrive in a year’s time. Additional purchases of this top-of-the-line plane in the near future will enhance India’s defensive posture against both China and Pakistan.
A deal with Israel in 2004 to supply the Phalcon radar, which uses Active Phased Array Electronic Scanning Technology, cost India US$1.1 billion. Russia supplied India with its highly upgraded IL-76TD workhorse planes, which are fitted with powerful PS-90 engines, via Kazakhstan. This aircraft and its engines have been modified for the hot and humid climate of India.

The above-mentioned acquisition is a force multiplier for the Indian Air Force. AWACS aircraft are able to detect any enemy airborne activity – including when and were enemy planes take off from bases up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) away and the direction in which they are heading – while staying 100 kilometers (62 miles) within its own border.

Two of these AWACS aircraft patrolling the western front, well within India’s territory, can cover the sensitive Punjab-Rajasthan border. The Phalcon radar, the most sophisticated to date, can also collect surface information about troop movements and missile launches and can listen into highly confidential communications between Pakistan’s frontline units.

Militarily, surveillance and advance knowledge of enemy activity is ultimately a force multiplier. An earlier version of this plane was used during the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1973. Israelis shot down most of the Syrian and Egyptian planes without losing any to the enemy, using the early version. The United States also used it during the Gulf War to take out Iraqi planes. The remaining Iraqi pilots of MiG-23s and MiG-29s fled to Iran to escape the terror in the sky.

Israelis and Americans gave this technology the name AWACS because of its long-range capability. Similar technology mounted on a smaller but very capable plane is called AEW&C, for Airborne Early Warning & Control. Since India has a great deal of territory to cover, acquisition of smaller, more flexible planes with mounted surveillance radars makes sense. In this case, the radar and electronics can be homemade. India’s choice of aircraft for its own AEW&C system is Brazil’s Embraer 145 business/regional jet plane.

The key word here is operational flexibility. Whereas the IL-76 AWACS aircraft requires a lot of area to take off and land, the Embraer can take off and land at smaller airports. This is key to a layered approach to surveillance, including hostile missiles.

What does India’s hostile neighbor have for aerial surveillance?

Pakistan does not want India to have the upper hand. Although it has U.S. money handy to match India’s military spending, nobody is selling them the advanced AWACS. So, they have settled for six Swedish SAAB-2000 turbo prop planes with Ericsson surveillance radars. The deal is worth US$1.5 billion.

They would have preferred U.S. or Israeli phased ray radar but its unavailability changed their choice to SAAB/Ericsson. The latter is equipped with Saab Microwave Systems, Erieye surveillance radar and nine-hour loitering capability. This is as good as what the Swedes can supply, but lacks actual battlefield experience. At best these are comparable to India’s homegrown AEW&C.

China lost to India when they negotiated the same deal with Israel to buy Phalcons in 2000-2001 as U.S. intervention prevented the technology transfer. The hardware, which could have gone to the Chinese, was switched to India.

Like India in the late nineties, China began experimenting with home built AWACS. Initially they turned to Russia and purchased Beriev A-50 radar planes. These are exact copies of the U.S. E-3 Sentry radar planes except that they were mounted on Russian Il-76 aircrafts. Totally dissatisfied, they began experimenting with their own phased ray radar. Their experimental AWACS crashed in 2006, killing forty of their best scientists and technicians. China wants to dump it in favor of Boeing 737-800 planes.

The Boeing plane with homemade Chinese radars is dubbed as KJ-2000. Equipped by the most modern technology, which China can lay its hands on, three such planes are being built. The KJ-2000’s radar has a range of about 300 kilometers. It is the nearest match to what the U.S. flies in and around Taiwan. Although the Chinese are happy with their decision, improvements are a long way off in the absence of relevant technology, which it has not yet received.

Realizing that India is ahead in this force multiplier acquisition and nobody else is able to supply them, Pakistan has been making attempts to convince the Chinese to acquire similar planes on their behalf for an undisclosed sum.

Last year the Chinese KJ-2000 was seen at Pakistan’s Chakalala airport giving an operational demonstration. China is very keen to secure a deal with Pakistan on these aircrafts, as it will help them defray their huge developmental costs.

The intimidation factor of AWACS is immense. Imagine Pakistan planning a major air raid in India over Srinagar, Kashmir and poised to fly super secret missions from its airports in Rawalpindi, Sialkote, and Sargodha, which are about 200 kilometers from the Indian border. The success of such missions depend on the element of surprise they achieve and an Indian AWACS flying a surveillance mission in a wide arc over Kashmir, Punjab and the Ladakh region can detect Pakistan’s aerial movements and ambush it.

Concurrently, the Swedish made Pakistani AEW&C and possibly Chinese AWACS can also detect India’s movements. Realizing that the mission is doomed Pakistan’s high command could call off the raids. So, AWACS can avoid an ugly aerial fight.

AWACS and AEW&C planes are not invulnerable. They fly 200-300 kilometers away from the hostile war zones. A concerted effort from enemy fighters could force it to retreat far beyond its 300-kilometer safe distance. As a turbo-prop heavy lift plane is very vulnerable to Beyond-Visual-Range attacks, it needs an escort of fighters to ward off such threats.

Imagine a Chinese air attack on central Indian air bases in the wake of their ground losses in India’s Ladakh region or their inability to capture Twang in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. They could send their SU-27’s over the Himalayas from bases far away or send cruise missiles from bases closer to the Tibet-India border. The early knowledge of incoming planes or missiles will help India in beating back the air attack and saving its air assets. Without the early warnings from AWACS, Indian airbases are very vulnerable to enemy attacks. So, AWACS is a big asset.

At sea, India’s recent contract with Boeing for six, P-8I, long-range reconnaissance planes will greatly enhance India’s sea reconnaissance capability. These planes will be data linked with other air surveillance planes, surface ships and space based assets. This US$2.1 billion purchase together with AWACS and AEW&C are designed to warn hostile forces to stay as far away from Indian interests as possible.

Still, all the forgoing is an enhanced defensive posture of India. It will soon be enhanced with locally developed and externally purchased fighter jets, which will take the fight to the enemy.

The shape of India’s armed forces, which was dull and dreary for the last fifty years, is about to be modernized with an offensive punch in next 5 to 10 years.

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(Hari Sud is a retired vice president of C-I-L Inc., a former investment strategies analyst and international relations manager. A graduate of Punjab University and the University of Missouri, he has lived in Canada for the past 34 years. ©Copyright Hari Sud.)

[Cheetah786]

Article is writen by a 2 year old

[abdulrafi]

feb 05 2009


AWACS will change Asia's military dynamics - upiasia.com

[s90]

Hmm interesting.....so our Saab AWACS suck?

[XiNiX]

Hmm interesting.....so our Saab AWACS suck?

Well, The Falcons Cannot be matched by any country in Asia.

Even India are developing an indegenious AWACs but it will be similar to the once acquired by Pak ( may be a bit inferior ) , but can never match Falcon which has a Highly Advanced US + Israel Tech.

[hj786]

Well, The Falcons Cannot be matched by any country in Asia.

The Chinese say that their KJ-2000 is better than the Phalcon that they tested and almost bought some years ago (USA stopped the deal). Therefore, China can match India's phalcon - they may already have done so with their KJ-2000.

Even India are developing an indegenious AWACs but it will be similar to the once acquired by Pak ( may be a bit inferior )

May be? Not very modest are you

[XiNiX]

The Chinese say that their KJ-2000 is better than the Phalcon that they tested and almost bought some years ago (USA stopped the deal). Therefore, China can match India's phalcon - they may already have done so with their KJ-2000.

May be? Not very modest are you

Well , China is even developing a 92000 Tonne Nuclear AC even though they have not made a conventional AC.

I dont say China Cant do It but I meant the present Stats and NOT what China can do in Next 25 Years.

Its NOT Wise to count it as a Chicken when its Still an Egg.
Atleast in Military.

[Contrarian]

The Chinese say that their KJ-2000 is better than the Phalcon that they tested and almost bought some years ago (USA stopped the deal). Therefore, China can match India's phalcon - they may already have done so with their KJ-2000.

Your joking right? I need to be reassured that your joking because the statement initself is ludicrous but it seems you said it with a straight face!

[qsaark]

Well , China is even developing a 92000 Tonne Nuclear AC even though they have not made a conventional AC.

Conventional and nuclear are 'propulsion' systems. Why you want to make a conventionally powered AC before making a nuclear powered AC while you can make and afford to run a nuclear powered AC? China developed its first nuclear powered sub (Type 091 'Han') in 1967. This shows that Chinese were advanced enough in making compact reactors (this is the hardest part) back in 1967 (this is more than 40 years back). Thus putting a nuclear reactor in an AC should not be a problem fo them. This is one of the most naiive 'reason' I have ever heared. So your next 25 years theory may be correct for India but not for China.

[qsaark]

Your joking right? I need to be reassured that your joking because the statement initself is ludicrous but it seems you said it with a straight face!

AWACS/AEW is only one type of force multiplier out of several others, nothing more nothing less. I dont see any joke in the statement. I do see a joke however, in the claims that Israelis make about their technology. Throughout the Lebanon campaign, the Israelis couldn't even manage to trace/jam the communications between the gorillas and their commanders.

[blain2]

Well, The Falcons Cannot be matched by any country in Asia.

Even India are developing an indegenious AWACs but it will be similar to the once acquired by Pak ( may be a bit inferior ) , but can never match Falcon which has a Highly Advanced US + Israel Tech.

I do not think that you can make such a blanket statement. Cannot be matched in what regime/capability? Be mindful that absolute number of tracks and range is not the only equation that comes into play. Resilient communications with Data links (protection against electronic warfare/jamming) in which the Swedes are in a league by themselves and even SPS are among the other areas which make a difference.

The Erieye is an AESA based solution and provides enough depth in terms of range and tracks for it to be very sufficient for use against the IAF.

If the IAF were going to conduct Air Ops with the intensity of Desert Storm etc. where airspace management becomes extremely complex simply due to the number of nodes they have to track then a high end system with a capacity for very high number of tracks etc. is of great benefit. In any Indo-Pak conflict, the number of tracks are going to be in a much smaller proportion than what a typical US, British or French E3 Sentry would have to manage.

So the bottom line is that fine Phalcon is on the high end of the AEW systems, but due to capability requirements and theater-specificness, Erieye matches up very well with the Indian acquisition. The bottom line is that in this case, you essentially have a Bentley and a BMW 7 series. Both are excellent cars, one comes with a price tag the other not as expensive as the first one. For the theater they will be employed in, they will both function well.

[ejaz007]

Toronto, ON, Canada, —

The above-mentioned acquisition is a force multiplier for the Indian Air Force. AWACS aircraft are able to detect any enemy airborne activity – including when and were enemy planes take off from bases up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) away and the direction in which they are heading – while staying 100 kilometers (62 miles) within its own border.

Not a very convincing article. If we go by the author's details than Erieye is better in detection range than Phalcon.

As per author Phalcon can detect target 300 km away. Erieye can detect fighter size targets 350 km away.

[ANDUBYLL]

A total waste of money , if you ask me !!

during the war, Geo TV in Pak and NDTV in India will be broadcasting live feeds 24 hours from the battle fields

Excerpts : And now we can see a Mig-21 and we have the pilot with us , please tell us, Sir, what is your mission and where you are flying today !!

NDTV: So you can see , Barkha, , Soumaiya Naidu will fly in his mig -21 in a few minutes bound for sargodha !!

[satishkumarcsc]

A total waste of money , if you ask me !!

during the war, Geo TV in Pak and NDTV in India will be broadcasting live feeds 24 hours from the battle fields

Excerpts : And now we can see a Mig-21 and we have the pilot with us , please tell us, Sir, what is your mission and where you are flying today !!

NDTV: So you can see , Barkha, , Soumaiya Naidu will fly in his mig -21 in a few minutes bound for sargodha !!

good one....

[blain2]

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On a more serious note, let me present this view here which was shared in 2004 in an issue of Defence Journal when the talk of the AEW systems started in South Asia. This has some sobering thoughts for both Pakistan and India about this new AEW capability.


Early Warning - The Phalcon “Phallacy”
Analysis of this Threat
[Air Commodore (Retd) SHAHID KAMAL KHAN]

Here we go again. Keeping up with the Joneses! If the Indians are bent upon hurting themselves, why should we be left behind? And, if they are planning to hurt themselves a little bit, let us really upstage them. Let us hurt like hell. We now have over eleven billion dollars in the kitty. What better way to hurt than to buy ourselves an AWACS? And you can bet your bottom dollar that our AWACS is going to be better than the Indian Phalcon. And I do not mean “bottom dollar” in the proverbial sense, I actually mean the last greenback at the bottom of our national reserve pile; our AWACS is going to be the best money can buy. So that Pakistanis everywhere are able to look their Indian counterparts in the eye and say, “Mine is better than yours. It is bigger than yours. It can stay up longer, it can go further, penetrate deeper. Mine performs round the clock, day and night, in clear skies and in bad weather, over land, over sea, at high altitude and at low level. Mess with us and you can kiss your cute little synthetic aperture goodbye”.

The Indians are going to buy the Phalcon Airborne Radar and Command Centre. Pakistan is already studying the consequences of this acquisition and developing responses. The first, the unavoidable knee jerk response, is already very apparent. They have one. Let us have one too. Hopefully others, more prudent, more cogent shall follow. This article aims to present a somewhat different perception of this addition to the Indian military inventory. It is an attempt to temper our exuberance as we try to blow the issue out of proportion and argue the case for acquiring a similar capability for our nation. It may also to inject some rationality in the debilitating arms race in the Subcontinent.

Vision is a truly bountiful gift of God. Our eyes collect data which the optic nerve feeds to our brains where information is sifted, assimilated, analyzed, options formed, and the best course of action or, indeed, inaction determined. The further out one is able to see, the more information there is to be gathered and the more prepared one can be for dealing with the situation as it unfolds. At the ridiculous end of this vision scale is the ostrich that prefers not to see and buries its head in the sand while at the sublime end is Man's constant endeavour to peer into all distances, real and imagined, actual and contrived, physical and metaphysical, worldly and extraterrestrial. Man probes all corners, recesses, depths and heights in an attempt to understand and, having understood, man is forewarned. Being forewarned, he can then be forearmed.

To achieve expanded visibility, man has devised a whole series of physical, optical and electronic aids ranging from the simple to the esoteric. We are able to look through scanning electron microscopes powerful enough to display sub-atomic structures. We can gaze through a Hubble telescope that provides us with spectacular glimpses into interstellar space. We can “look” electronically at distant galaxies and can “listen” to telephone conversations across the world. We have trained dolphins to see for us under water, we have recruited bats to scan the night skies. Man's quest for knowledge prompts these advancements; modern technology enables them. The range of information we can access is truly impressive.

There is, however, one serious problem with an extended field of view. And that is that the more you can see, the more there is that can scare you!

Especially if you are faint of heart and feeble of mind.

Which unfortunately is largely the case for the residents of the Sub-Continent.

Our most impressive athletic ability perhaps is jumping to conclusions and, given this propensity of ours to overreact, it is perhaps not too good an idea for us to see a whole lot more than what is absolutely necessary! At least this is my experience. Let me share it with you.

When I first became an operational pilot in the Pakistan Air Force, we had but three fighter bases in what was then West Pakistan! At each base there were multiple squadrons that went about their peacetime task of training for war. Air combat, air to air gunnery, strike missions, air to ground bombing, navigation, instrument flying, night sorties. Heady, operational stuff. One other duty was Air Defence Alert (ADA). Standing by at short notice ready for immediate launch, prepared to intercept any intruder that ventured into Pakistani airspace. Each squadron carried out this duty for a few days each month, the aim being to keep the aircrew, the facilities and the procedures tuned for any eventuality.

Being detailed for ADA was actually a welcome break from the demanding Squadron routine. It was also a duty that had tremendous emotional content. It was an exhilarating experience to go into an underground environment, fully clad in our flying gear, Anti G suit donned, helmets at the ready. Above our subterranean refuge were readied fighters, all systems tested, switches on, systems primed, poised for launch. It was a place where senior pilots of the Squadron, normally aloof and distant, would mingle with us, the juniors. Comrades in arms, the Squadron Commander and the junior-most pilot together, trading pleasantries in intimate surroundings. It was also a gastronomic delight. Instead of the insipid mess food, bachelors were treated to home cooked meals of mouthwatering taste cooked lovingly by wives who believed that their husbands were out there on the front line laying their lives on the line for the country! The ADA complex was a different world altogether. Buried underground, accessed through a complex series of gates, passages and barriers, it was a world of red lights, multiple phone banks, land lines, secure encrypted electronic devices, coded phone rings, cipher messages, passwords and check words, silent signals, hand gestures, meaningful glances, all extremely impressive and adrenalin pumping stuff. One word, a simple call, would have the sirens wailing, lights flashing, us racing, first on the ground then on the runway and finally into the blue yonder to take on any intruder that ventured into our territory.

ADA was fun, it was the stuff stories are made of, it was heroism as depicted in war movies. Being on ADA also meant missing the dreaded PT and Parade! And equally importantly, ADA was also, to borrow a phrase from the younger generation, a babe magnet! In those days no officer could be seen in the mess premises in flying gear. That is, nobody except the ADA pilots. They could roam the Officers Mess fully clad in flying gear, helmets in hand. The Anti G suit was and perhaps still is an amazing article of apparel that transforms the most plain of men into handsome heroes. Women have their wonderbras; fighter pilots their Anti G suits!

And then, Pakistan acquired PADS 77, a highly sophisticated and modern low level radar system consisting of a contiguous chain of low level radars, supported by high level radars, linked by radio relays, controlled by operations centres. It was a complex system comprising command consoles, large screen displays, impressive electronics, sophisticated technologies; a computer controlled network that enabled real time, accurate and highly detailed continuous coverage of all aerial activity both in height and in depth. Huge portions of our borders were “lit up” and we were able to see anything that moved at any altitude. Not only could we monitor activity within our own frontiers, we could also see well beyond our borders. And, by that time, we had also expanded from our original three fighter bases to more than double that number. The entire Pakistan countryside was dotted with modern, fully equipped airfields, linked together in a well planned infrastructure in support of an Air Force which was already recognized as one of the finest in the world.

With PADS 77 and its multifold increase in our visibility, the inevitable had to happen. ADA became a permanent feature of our peacetime operations. Something truly romantic was transformed into tedious routine.

Being prepared is a key to being successful. Forewarned is forearmed. Well begun is half done. These are platitudes that not only sound nice but also are worthy of being implemented. However, these need to be weighed against another set of similar sentiments such as prudence being the better part of valour, waste not want not, act, don't react and similar sensible exhortations.

Whereas PADS 77 was undoubtedly a major force multiplier and something that had a truly sobering effect on any adventurism that our eastern neighbour may have had in mind, it also caused us considerable grief. An unhealthy part of the entire Air Force effort was spent flying air defence missions, scrambling for aircraft flying in the circuit of forward air bases of our neighbour, intercepting Siberian geese on their winter journey to the south, chasing elusive weather phenomena, furiously trying to lock on and intercept spurious computer generated blips and other such false tracks. Once scrambled for these nebulous targets, interceptor aircraft were prevented from doing any meaningful air exercise by virtue of their being fully armed, “hot” guns and “cooled” missiles.

Not that this could have been avoided. Over the years not only had we added air bases to our infrastructure, the nation too had developed a whole series of facilities, industries, factories, businesses, dams, bridges and other national structures that were potential targets for any hostile forces. And the political climate had not been too favourable either. Only six years before this induction of PADS 77 we had witnessed the dismemberment of our country, we had fought an inconclusive war. The wounds were still raw.

Given this situation, continuous ADA was an absolute necessity. And, with such heightened readiness, it was naïve to imagine that there could be an air defence commander cool enough, bold enough and perhaps stupid enough to ignore what appeared to be a developing threat. No one in his right mind could sit back in the hope that what the displays showed was a flock of geese, an electromagnetic aberration, a false alarm.

But then, ironically, this is exactly what early warning is all about. Early warning can only be improved upon if you maintain your present reaction status and enhance your visibility. If however, as you increase your ability to see further, deeper, in greater detail AND you then simultaneously elect to respond to any perceived threat more rapidly and at greater distance, warning times have NOT improved. All that you have actually done is increased your agony, prolonged your exposure and fretted for a longer duration. In acquiring the ability to see further, you have simply amplified your insecurity. You have also ensured colossal waste of precious resources.

Consider this. Four high speed tracks are picked up well outside our borders heading towards Pakistan at low level, high speed. Basic calculations indicate that if these aircraft continue on this path, they would reach our borders in five minutes and, if they have an evil intent, they could be reaching one of our sensitive installations (Vulnerable Point or VP, in Air Defence jargon) another five minutes later. The Air Defence commander has no option but to move his interceptor force to an ever increasing state of readiness. Five minutes away would most probably warrant moving pilots into cockpits from their underground bunkers thereby saving valuable minutes to launch. As the four blips approach two minutes short of our border, the Air Defence Commander would necessarily launch the fighter aircraft considering that they have to cover a fair distance to be in position to defend the VP. In less than a minute, two or more jets thunder down the runway and get airborne, accelerating in a ear shattering dash across the skies towards the hostile intruders. And, if the Commander cannot be sure which direction they may turn when the blips cross the border, he may scramble more than one pair from more than one base.

This happens fairly routinely across the length and breadth of our country. The good part is that nothing much ever happens beyond this. The approaching aircraft turn out to be transiting aircraft landing at a border airfield, migrating geese or pilots with poor navigation ability or something equally innocuous. The fighters are recalled and everyone stands down. The bad part is that precious resources have been expended.

Events such as these, lost pilots, transiting aircraft, migrating birds, anomalous propagation have always happened. Before 1977 we could not see them happening and therefore did not respond. Post 1977 we can and therefore we do; indeed we must.

Contemplate this. Analyze it, Assimilate it. This done, Extrapolate.
When we could only see high level, distant threats, we reacted in a particular manner. When we acquired a low level visibility slightly beyond our borders, our response was much larger, much more widespread, much more reactive.

What if we could see farther, better, and in greater detail?
Would we respond less, the same or more?
Before you answer, ponder upon this in all seriousness.
What would WE do if we had an AWACS?

And while you do so, let me narrate another illustrative experience where enhanced visibility and blinkered vision exist side by side.

Join me at Thirty Thousand Feet. In pitch black darkness, in a jewel studded night sky over the North West Frontier Province at CAP Station Alpha. In an F-16 cockpit twiddling knobs, pressing buttons, listening to the ALR-69 Radar Warning Receiver, selecting threat libraries, identifying blips, monitoring radio transmissions and performing a host of other complex tasks. Working the APG-66 radar, varying tilt angles, scan modes, zooming in to targets, locking, unlocking, zooming out to distant targets, trying to identify, sort and prioritize the threat posed by each one of the blips that appear on the airborne radar display screen.

This is a particularly busy night. Some major ground action is underway, fully supported by air power. The small, square radar screen between my knees is lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree with multiple targets at various ranges, different altitudes and differing speeds. Those six slow moving blips flying low, close to the ground are obviously night attack helicopters probably targeting some Mujahideen ground concentrations. The four faster, higher targets conclusively identified as specialized ground attack aircraft in a weapon delivery pattern, dropping flares, lighting up the area for both the helicopters and themselves as they pound the earth below. Another set of four blips further back, patrolling at fifteen thousand feet. Obviously fighters, judging by their speed and other parameters that the on-board systems have analyzed. Parked high above and beyond the ground combat zone, these lethal machines providing cover and the wherewithal to assist the ponderous, heavily laden, less manoeuvrable ground attack aircraft in case they are attacked. And the lone blip, well in the distance, lumbering across the sky in a defined orbit. The Airborne Command Centre from where this major ground assault, fully supported by air assets is most probably being orchestrated. Watching me watching them. More blips dotted across the screen. Aircraft transiting back to base, having done their bit and soon, another set of blips indicating the arrival of replacements.

At CAP Station Alpha we are able to look deep inside Afghanistan while remaining safely inside our borders. Powerful sensors on board the F-16 provide us this very sobering vision. Our task is to watch and ensure that the action does not drift into our airspace. Airborne early warning packing a lethal punch.

The eastern sky starts to light up in an amazing kaleidoscope of colour, hues and radiating shafts of brilliance. Dawn comes early at this altitude. Down below, still in darkness, my replacements are preparing to come up, take over from me and continue the vigil as the new day approaches. A pair of day interceptors are getting ready to take off as soon as the day breaks at ground level. Fast, nimble, lightweight and lethal but without the radar and the other electronics that the F-16 carries. The replacements are machines optimized for clear weather, daytime combat. piloted by bright, talented. hawkeyed pilots who work closely with ground based radars and use their sharp visual acquisition skills to pick up threats in the sky. Pilots trained and skilled in “burn and turn” tactics, excelling in fighting Within Visual Range.

Soon their voices come crackling across on the radio. Sharp, fresh, confident, mutually supportive calls confirming to each other “tails clear”, a term designed to confirm the absence of any threat in their cone of vulnerability.

Here am I in my modern cockpit surrounded with technology providing me with a fairly sobering picture of what lies out there, and there they are, completely oblivious of the threat. This is not as foolhardy as it sounds; the combat ready pair is fully capable of taking on any hostile aircraft that enters its zone of lethality. They sing a different song, they dance to a different tune. They know their tactics well. Tactics based on forcing the enemy to come within their visual range if he is to hurt them. Tactics based on long range visual acquisition of anything airborne. Tactics that ensure that once an enemy is sighted, he is outmanoeuvred and overwhelmed. Brilliant, gut wrenching tactics. These pilots do not see what lies beyond their considerable visual acquisition range. Frankly, they couldn't care less. A lethal punch with negligible early warning.

Contemplate this. Analyze it, Assimilate it. This done, Extrapolate.
When we could only see high level, distant threats, we reacted in a particular manner. When we acquired a low level visibility slightly beyond our borders, our response was much larger, much more widespread, much more reactive. And when we employ air intercept (AI) radar equipped aircraft our actions and reactions are completely different from when we operate using non-AI equipped aircraft.

What do we do when we see farther, better, and in greater detail? How do we respond? What would we do if we had an AWACS? And if the answer is what it must be, why then should the Indians act any differently.

The Phalcon has to be the Indian nemesis. While it shall definitely provide them the vision and an ability to track our moves, it would also require of them to interpret these moves of ours. This they must perforce do so in a manner based on their perceptions and their experiences, their responses fashioned by their mindsets. They have traditionally been suspicious of each and every move of ours. There is no reason to believe that this shall change with the acquisition of any early warning system, airborne or otherwise. As their ability to see our movement increases, so must their suspicions that we are up to no good. This is bound to drive them into a state of frenzy. And this is what we need to capitalize upon.

Nations that do not have developed arms industries, Third World countries that purchase weaponry from abroad, nations such as Pakistan will always go to war with what they have on their inventory. Wars will be short, fierce and expensive. More importantly, there shall be no replenishment of anything. Fuel, bullets, Surface to Air Missiles, radars, tanks, guns, pilots, soldiers, sailors; Nothing. Anyone that preaches otherwise is being delusional or self-serving. Those that believe in lingering low intensity conflicts between two nuclear armed nations with the rest of the world watching from the sidelines need to rethink their concepts. Indeed, if ever Pakistan is forced into a lingering conflict, both our war stamina and prudence dictate a national strategy that either produces a political resolution rapidly or else precipitates the situation into a high intensity, short duration encounter. For doubters, just revisit the tried and tested the Principles of War. And analyze what's happening around us. This is what results when established principles are ignored.

This is the strategic imperative, stated perforce in summary here. There is an attendant requirement; a reevaluation of tactics. I have always believed that the concept of SEAD, Suppression of Enemy Air Defences is nugatory. In short duration, fixed inventory fights the aim should be to do exactly the opposite. We must actually have a well-developed strategy of Enemy Air Defence Excitation. We must trigger the enemy air defences frequently, repeatedly, realistically. Excite them in a manner that ensures that he expends his limited resources while we conserve ours. Defence Suppression enables the exact opposite. The enemy conserves while we expend.

We need to develop and deploy a substantial arsenal of drones, decoys, spurious track generators. False targets, false alarms, real engagements, real responses. Cheap and plentiful triggers forcing expensive and complex solutions. Electronic emitters that duplicate radar signatures of strike aircraft. Long range artillery shells that dispense clouds of intelligent micro emitters deep inside hostile territory. These are but examples; there are many, many more options, cheaper, better, indigenously produced and sophisticated enough that can fool the Phalcon. To be more precise, fool the Indians that fly the Phalcon. Of this I am sure.

The Phalcon system shall enable the Indians to see more. Let us show them more. A whole lot more. Let us devise means that overwhelm their early warning systems. Let us excite their defences, encourage them to expend their weapons, their energies, their countermeasures. Let us deplete their inventory and their will. Done rightly and purposefully it can redress the force imbalance at far lesser cost and with substantially more effectiveness.

Or we can buy ourselves an AWACS package and see a whole lot more ourselves. Redeploy to Quetta and other distant locations that provide us strategic depth! Far away places where we can protect our big fat assets while we scare ourselves to death!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Air Commodore (Retd) Shahid Kamal Khan was born in Abbottabad, Pakistan in I948. He was commissioned in the PAF in 1966 and retired in August, 1998. During a service span of 32 years as a fighter pilot, he flew all frontline aircraft of the PAF. Additionally, he held many important operational, training and staff assignments in the PAF. For his meritorious services, Air Cdre Shahid was awarded both the Tamgha-e-Basalat and the Sitara-e-Basalat by the Government of Pakistan. He also achieved the enviable distinction of qualifying for an A1 Category both as an Instructor Pilot and an Operational Pilot. He is a graduate of the Royal Air Force Academy, Cranwell and completed his Staff Studies from RAF Staff College, Bracknell, England. He has also studied at the University of Southern California, USA. He can be reached at [email protected]