Editor's Note
The critical need of the F-35 for Indian Air Force is currently being debated amongst knowledgeable veterans, especially after the recent meeting between US President Trump and PM Modi.
Several analysts have expressed their views and recommendations for the procurement of this costly , state of the art F-35 aircraft that was displayed at Bangalore during the recent Aero show & exhibition during which the comments of CAS drew spontaneous media attention and coverage . A recent ToI centrepage piece titled:
Don't be F-35ed ' by AVM Manmohan Bahadur throws much light on the subject and is a good reference for further debate on the subject. MVI has already published a couple of pieces on this subject by Gp Capt TP Srivastava and Brig DS Sarao. Links of these are given below :
This article by Gp Capt Johnson Chacko gives further insight into this subject and linked technical issues that should take this debate further.
Editor , MVI
Technology is evolving at an extremely fast pace. Fighter aircraft are not immune to it and must adapt to the changes in technology to dominate the domain. Doctrinally, every technological enhancement tries to ensure that it adds value to the developer and deny such value to the competitor. If we take electronic warfare, the aim is to deny the use of the electronic spectrum to the competitor (enemy) and secure it’s use for our own forces. Stealth attempts to render the electronic spectrum useless to the opponent. It is next to impossible to have stealth in a fighter aircraft that can defeat all the frequencies of the electro-magnetic spectrum. Stealth technology significantly reduces the radar visibility of fighter aircraft, it does not make them entirely invisible to all radar systems, by various means such as shape & structure (designed to deflect incoming radar waves in a different direction than the emitting radar), painting the surface with radar absorbent material that absorb the incoming radar waves so that it is not reflected etc. They also use techniques to reduce the heat signature so that trackers using the heat of the engines have less probability of detection. They are designed to be less visible and do not give protection against all radars at all frequencies. The pilot is anxious to know whether he is being painted or not.
Combat tactics can better be decided based on this knowledge which is within the mind of the radar operator/interceptor. There are reports that the F 35s used by Israel against Iran recently were detected and tracked by Iranian radars. VHF (Very High Frequency) and UHF (Ultra High Frequency) Radars operating between the 30 MHz to 3 GHz frequencies use longer wavelengths that interact differently with stealth aircraft surfaces. The resonance effect caused by these longer wavelengths makes stealth aircraft more detectable. These radars are less affected by the stealth features optimized for higher frequency radars. They can detect aircraft features like tail fins and wings, which are more visible at these frequencies.
In any Air Defence system, we have surveillance radars which scan the volume around the radar using a lower frequency which is less accurate, the acquisition radars which scan a narrower area to gain more accuracy (using a slightly higher frequency) and the AI/fire control radar or missile guidance radar (which use a still higher frequency) which are very accurate to guide the missile to a very close distance from the target to activate the explosion of the warhead. The stealth capabilities of a fighter concentrates on the last part to provide protection.
The eternal dilemma of a planner of defence systems is “should we acquire a better tank or acquire a system to defeat the tank of the opponent” or “should we acquire a better aircraft carrier or acquire a system to sink the opponent’s carrier, if it comes closer than 500 km to own coastline” or “should we acquire a better stealth aircraft or concentrate on defeating the opponent’s stealth capabilities”. The Russians preferred to do the latter. The antitank missiles supplied to the Egyptians played hell into Israeli tanks, Russian submarines popped up between the US 7th fleet and East Pakistan in “71, stopping the 7th fleet, rendering the carrier useless. The Russians do not have an aircraft carrier worth its name as they rely on submarines or long-range anti-radiation missiles to sink the opponent’s carrier. They do not have many AWACS as they are confident of shooting down the opponent’s AWACS. Should we go in for stealth aircraft of concentrate on systems that will render stealth ineffective?
Stealth aircraft are focused on reducing radar and heat signatures.
Stealth aircraft also needs to use their AI radar which will give away its position. There are SAMs that can be made to home on to that frequency to destroy the stealth aircraft. China has reverse engineered an S 400 and supplied Pakistan such a system with such missiles. Tremendous advances have been made in the domains of thermal detection, electro-optical detection & tracking, use of electromagnetic resonance of the target ac for tracking, etc. It will be worthwhile to understand what deterred the Israelis from using F 35s against Iran.
Our strategic planners have to decide what needs to be done. In my opinion, we need to focus on stealth killers in the near future while building our own stealth aircraft. F 35 is not the answer.
A stealth aircraft has many new parts which are produced by vendors of Lockheed Martin. Even though we had American C-119s transport planes after the Chinese aggression of 1962, supply chain bottlenecks were few and far between. The recent issues with supply of F 414 engines is a cause for concern and the future supplies may be subject to geo-political considerations, buttressed with diplomatic mumbo-jumbo, downgrading our operational capabilities when we need it the most.
Ever since the advent of stealth, researchers have been focusing on systems that don’t use the radar. There are Infra-Red Search and Tracking system with a laser range finder and a synchronised powerful video camera system to track the enemy at comparable ranges without switching on the AI radar.
Our decision makers need to carry out an all-round analysis including life cycle cost benefit analysis between stealth aircraft and stealth slayers, to arrive at a decision whether to accept the American offer and at what cost. We the veterans, have trained them and the IAF is in good hands.
About Author
The author has specialised in electronic combat, offensive air operation, air defence operations, strategic reconnaissance, and airborne weapons employment.
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