The latest AoN is a breath of fresh air. Total 30 aircraft approved, out of which 15 are MRMR, 3 COMINT/SIGINT, 6 Netra 1a, 6 refuellers
All 30 are force multipliers!
But
1) AoNs have to translate to orders. ATAGS AoN was issued in Jan 2023. The order is still to materialize, following which deliveries will start after its own lead time
2) Even 6 more Netras are an insufficient for a 2 front war. They will barely give us parity vis-a-vis Pakistan, while we should have had overmatch against that beggar nation and should be threatening China on the sheer # of birds we can put up against her in a sector
3) Repeated IAF Chiefs indeed dropped the ball. Even more egregious, considering how much actual war experience with AEWs they actually got during 2019 Balakot. Just like the IA, they don't even learn from their own experience. Their MRFA tunnel-vision has clouded their thinking
All 30 are force multipliers!
But
1) AoNs have to translate to orders. ATAGS AoN was issued in Jan 2023. The order is still to materialize, following which deliveries will start after its own lead time
2) Even 6 more Netras are an insufficient for a 2 front war. They will barely give us parity vis-a-vis Pakistan, while we should have had overmatch against that beggar nation and should be threatening China on the sheer # of birds we can put up against her in a sector
3) Repeated IAF Chiefs indeed dropped the ball. Even more egregious, considering how much actual war experience with AEWs they actually got during 2019 Balakot. Just like the IA, they don't even learn from their own experience. Their MRFA tunnel-vision has clouded their thinking
Statistics: Posted by Prem Kumar — 18 Feb 2024 09:34