#dnaEdit: Ageing aircraft

The crash of AN-32 into the Bay of Bengal points to deeper problems bedevilling the Indian Air Force — ageing fleet and a tardy acquisition process

We will get to know the exact reasons as to why Antonov AN-32, carrying four officers and a child, 17 military personnel and eight civilians had gone off the radar on its flight from Chennai to Port Blair on Friday morning by and by. The death of all those on board is now a near-certainty, and it will be difficult for the family members of those who were on board to make sense of what might appear to be a freak incident. It would be premature indeed to speculate whether the plane ran into the eye of a storm over the vast waters of the Bay of Bengal that stretches from the eastern coast of the mainland to the far-flung Andaman and Nicobar Islands, or whether it was a technical snag that dragged the plane water-ward. For the moment we can rule out pilot error because the countless sorties that the IAF transport wing makes between the two points make it an unlikely case.

But there is something troubling about it all. It is the general question of the ageing fleet of the IAF. Like the Russian MiG 21 fighter planes, which have earned the macabre soubriquet of “flying coffins”, the AN-32, again of Russian-make, acquired in the 1990s, seem to have reached the end of their life-term. Reports suggest that there has been an upgrading of the old aircrafts and they had been fitted with new avionics systems and a strengthened airframe in Ukraine at a cost of Rs1,965 crore. This is supposed to extend the operational life of the aircraft from 25 years to 40 years. Of the 101 AN-32s in the IAF, 40 have been upgraded, and the rest are undergoing up-gradation. It is an accepted norm that up-gradation of aircraft is a way of keeping the fleet in the air. But it is never a substitute for planning for the future.

Unfortunately, the IAF conjures up the image of only the fighter planes, and it is not surprising. It is the fighter planes and bombers that lead the offensive in an engagement with the enemy. But the transport wing of the IAF is as crucial as the fighter and bomber squadrons. It is the lifeline of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The transport fleet may be seemingly invisible but it is what keeps the armed forces in fine fettle on distant posts. 

It is surprising then that no discussion has ever reached the public domain about the need to buy improved versions of transport aircraft. When the United States-made Hercules C130 aircraft was inducted into the IAF, it was seen as a mere curiosity and an example of the closer defence trade between India and the US. While the American transport behemoth was a necessary addition, it was necessary to think of the mid-sized transport aircraft which plays such an important role in keeping connectivity between strategic points. It is sad indeed that we are forced to sit up and take note of strengthening the transport planes of the IAF after Friday’s AN-32 mishap.

The gestation period involved in acquisition of aircrafts is about a decade and more, and that is why it requires painstaking advanced planning. It may be the case that the planners within the IAF do anticipate the needs years ahead, but it is when it needs executive approval from the defence and finance ministries that hurdles are to be found all along the way. It is also the case that the top echelons of the IAF are not always on their feet in modernising the force by looking ahead in terms of decades. Both the government and the IAF will have to change their ways in this matter.