India is dependent upon speed, information, and precision to counter the Chinese threat—areas that its force multiplying platforms greatly complement and enable.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is at a crossroads. As China rises, shifting the balance of power throughout the region, India—whose air force has historically served a provincial role with a focus on defense against Pakistan—is being forced to evolve. New Delhi, seeking the ability to project power across the region, is expanding the scope of its air power strategy—retaining the ability to defend Indian sovereignty, while exerting greater influence throughout Asia.
What to Know About India’s Air Force
The IAF, relative to the international air power standard, carries a diverse fleet. The backbone of the fleet, once consisting of legacy platforms like the Soviet-built MiG-21, now consists of more modern aircraft like the Su-30MKI, Dassault Mirage 2000, and Dassault Rafale.
The Su-30MKI is a heavy, twin-engine multirole fighter, developed with Russia, that offers the range and payload needed to conduct deep strikes and air superiority missions across contested Himalayan frontiers. France’s renowned Rafale adds a more precise element to the IAF fleet, with advanced sensors and the ability to deliver nuclear weapons if needed. Alongside the aged, but upgraded, Mirage 2000s, and the domestically-made HAL Tejas fighters, the IAF can field a rather flexible mix of platforms for either offensive or defense purposes.
India Has a Unique Need for High-Altitude, Cold-Weather Aircraft
India’s military is a prisoner of the country’s unusual geography. The IAF is tasked with operating in one of the world’s most unforgiving places: the Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world. The jagged, high-altitude terrain forces aircraft to operate in the thinnest air, on short mountain runways, and at sparsely available airbases. Here, aircraft performance is typically degraded.
Yet the Himalaya region is of vital strategic importance, especially as China invests heavily in airfields in Tibet and Xinjiang, forcing India to reinforce its northern and northeastern bases, at places like Leh, Tezpur, and Hasimara, where the IAF has the ability to quickly surge forces if needed. The mountains also overlook India’s disputed Kashmir region with Pakistan—the flashpoint of many conflicts between the two, including their most recent skirmish in May.
India Can’t Keep Up with China’s Industry—but It Doesn’t Have To
Like all modern air forces, the IAF is focused on force multiplication. Airborne early warning and control systems—AWACS aircraft, aerial refueling tankers, and satellite-based intelligence networks—allow the IAF to enhance its footprint and influence at relatively low cost, which is especially important given China’s superior numbers and long-range missile coverage. Accordingly, India is dependent upon speed, information, and precision to counter the Chinese threat—areas that its force multiplying platforms greatly complement and enable.
As a last resort, the IAF retains a nuclear capability. Responsible for a portion of India’s nuclear triad, the IAF can deliver nuclear weapons through either gravity bombs or standoff nuclear munitions, delivered with either the Rafale or Mirage 2000—theoretically increasing deterrence against Pakistan and China, India’s two nuclear-armed rivals.
Ultimately, however, India recognizes it cannot keep pace with China in terms of sheer numbers, or industrial scale. As an alternative, the IAF has pursued qualitative asymmetry, fielding modern, capable aircraft at strategically vital chokepoints, maintaining the ability to respond rapidly and with precision. The result has been one of the world’s finest air forces, nimble and sharp, willing to import, and increasingly capable of indigenous innovation.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer at The National Interest. Kass is an attorney and former political candidate who joined the US Air Force as a pilot trainee before being medically discharged. He focuses on military strategy, aerospace, and global security affairs. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global Journalism and International Relations from NYU.
Image: Shutterstock / Adeel Saeed1.
