India sends out a strong message- It is more than prepared for a two-front war
- In Military & Strategic Affairs
- 07:22 AM, Apr 24, 2018
- Lt. Col Manish Jaitly
Before the air exercise Gagan Shakti even got over, it has achieved the single most important aim set for it. It delivered a critical message to our neighbors, China and Pakistan. The message was: India is more than prepared for a two-front war. Even as the exercise is yet to culminate, the Chinese media recently came out with an effusive praise for the same. Since the Chinese state strictly controls what gets published in their media, this can be seen as an acknowledgement by the government of China of India’s capability to successfully face such a challenge.
Before we proceed further it’s important to understand the concept of a two front war in our context. While there’s no doubt that it entails fighting on both our eastern and western borders simultaneously, there’re many sub-narratives which need to be pointed out. Any war with our neighbors is unlikely to be a two-front war to begin with. It’ll begin with one of the neighbors, and the other may or may not join in subsequently. If we were to go to war with Pakistan as a result of a terrorist attack or over the issue of Kashmir, China may or may not attack us on our eastern borders. However, if we were to go to war with China first, it’s quite certain that Pakistan will surely try to take advantage and attack us on our western borders. This is so because of the difference in international locus standi, outlook as well as the nature of their relationships with India.
It can be deduced that our forces will either have to be enough in quantum so that we separate them in two silos, one for China and another one for Pakistan, and deploy them ab-initio against them, or we’ll need to be able to switch our forces as and when required. The current exercise Gagan Shakti proved in no uncertain terms that the air force is prepared adequately to meet such a challenge. The strategy in this scenario would be to divide our forces in such a manner so as to be able to hold one front and decisively beat the enemy on the other front. Once the enemy on the second theater is defeated, switch the forces to the first theater and complete the drill. Of the two, which one would be the first and which one would be the second theater would depend upon the situation. This is the reason why the Gagan Shakti exercise is being conducted in both western as well as eastern theaters.
It is pertinent to mention, that the scope and scale of this exercise is the biggest ever in the last three decades. The very fact that the exercise involves 1150 airplanes of various kinds, with 90% aircraft availability levels, speaks volumes of the improved potential of the air force. Given that worldwide, 60-70% is an acceptable level of aircraft availability, this is an incredible achievement.
Another important feat achieved in the exercise were the 5000 fighter jet sorties carried out in a matter of 72 hrs. It shows the high level of training which resulted in enhanced efficiency in servicing/refueling which in-turn reduced the turnaround time of fighter aircrafts to the bare minimum. The exercise laid special emphasis on preparedness of pilots and aircrafts in the face of variety of threat scenarios. The operations showcased paratrooper assault, aerial combat, air to surface combat, mid-air refueling, casualty evacuation and relief operations with real time analysis and information sharing. The state of the art Brahmos missile fitted on Su-30 aircrafts was also an important facet of the exercise. To ensure combat worthiness in all kinds of terrains, operations were conducted in maritime, high altitude as well as desert terrains.
As would be obvious, Gagan Shakti encompassed the entire spectrum of aerial warfare challenges that we would need to face in both the theaters, should the need arise. An exercise of this kind was necessitated in the wake of Doklam standoff against the Chinese. It then became clear to us that if the situation worsened, Pakistan would surely try to take advantage of it and initiate a war on our western borders. This exercise is a reflection of this changed thought process wherein we’ve ensured that both our fronts are adequately secure and geared up to meet such a challenge. The Doklam standoff therefore, in many ways, has redefined our security policies and force structures, and has implored our forces to re-orient themselves. Gagan Shakti is a proof of the same.
Given the performance of our airmen and their machines, the Chinese media was forced to concede that no country in the world except the US can match these standards. Such an endorsement makes the whole exercise even more worthwhile. This reluctant acknowledgement by the Chinese should also serve as a dire warning to the Pakistanis who would’ve grudgingly noted the same. They too have been warned, there can be no doubt about that.
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