Rafale - The misconception

Eleven Rafale fighters have been reached to India till date out of 36 originally ordered in 2016 from France by BJP government. On the arrival of 1st Rafale on Ambala Airbase, Indian media celebrated the event as never before. the Live broadcast was done and minute by minute update telecast like the Pakistan India One day match.

No doubt, Rafale is one of the good fighters in the world which is listed in 4.5 generation. the twin-engine plane is made of composite material and has a state of art European manufactured avionics. Thales RBE2 AA Active Electronic Scan Array Radar and front-sector electro-optical system give Rafale edge over many 4 generation fighters, came verities of the weapon package with MICA as a jewel of the crown.    

The Indian Airforce born out of  Royal Indian Airforce, which was established in 1932. The remains of the British institution, better called western line till early 1960 when MiG-21 was first introduced and with it Soviet training. Thereafter, IAF started license manufactured MiG-21 and many more Soviet planes took an entry which includes SU-7, MiG 23 and MiG27 in large number till 1990s. 

The only western bomber inducted in IAF was Jaguar and Mirage 2000T. The Jaguar are license manufactured aircraft since 1970s and about 118 are in inventory. SU-30MKI was inducted in 2000 and locally manufactured started in 2004, 222 planes are flying has been manufactured while 12 lost in two decades.      

   

IAF got the first AWACS in 2009 from Isreal after the equipment fitted on Russian heavy-lift IL-76. However, India has only 3 AWACS plane. Indigenous System is also under trial, which will be ready, not know when?

But the basic problem is not the quality of equipment of the Indian Airforce but the conversion of the training from western line to eastern line and can Rafale fit in it. Russian and NATO is enemy and equipment are made against each other. Can it be possible both types of equipment can work effectively? The answer is very difficult, indeed for India but easy for PAF as well. The answer is NO. 

Training mixture is making complicate as the pilot who used to fly SU-30 for years can fly Rafale, however, the mindset is trained on western-style create glutch in an actual combat situation. Russian doctrine is based on Agile and dogfight sort of art which western relay on instruments and BVR warfare. The Whole IAF is trained on Russian R-77 which is about 80 km range which is now considered as the medium range. The warfare with BVR is a game of calculation and first shot. MICA has a range of 150KM came with Rafale but the level and doctrine of training that IAF,it may take longer time to excel in BVR warfare. 

The other problem is the electronic centric warfare in which AWACS become an important asset to provide and relay information between fighters and the ground. Rafale is the only information-centric platform, India has whereas all other assets including SU-30 can not integrate with Israeli equipment. IAF had done several experiments to marry Israeli jammers and targeting pods with SU-30 but only resulted in malfunctioning which sometimes led to the crash and lost of life. One example was to integrate Israeli Spice 2000 and popeye PGM with Mirage 2000, which result in the fail strike of Balakot. some source suggested that Spice 2000 was not able to arm and release by Mirages and resulted in Pakistan's favour. (Transfer of Technology). The main problem which will be faced by IAF is the LINK between SU-30 and Rafale. Indian media claim that both planes will work together in combat but how SU-30 and Rafale communicate when their avionics is made with the purpose to defeat each other's manufactures. The only way is ground control which can easily be Jammed by Pakistanis as displayed in Operation Swift Retort on 27th Feb-2019.

So why Rafale is here then. MiG-21 is old enough to continue its service. Jaguar can not upgrade further and Mirage 2000's upgradation work is so slow that it is not possible to complete till 2022. There are only 3 AWACS whereas about 20 AWACS is required to cover the whole of India. There is no Datalink for secure communication. No maintenance infrastructure for Rafale has been announced so far which supposed to be initiated until now.

The Big Question is why 36 Rafale can be game-changer. PAF is working in a different way. Trained on western philosophy and equipment, continue to exercise with western and Eastern Airforces for decades are better aware of the specification in the choice of equipment that can fulfil most in limited numbers. JF-17, the pride of Nation, is designed on the basis of western lines in blocks and every block is more powerful and improved compare to the Last one. As my earlier blog, i stated that Chinese technology has been improved alot in last two decades. 

They now come into innovation than just reverse engineering. JF-17 has although all Chinese equipment but it has the ability to link with Saab Erieye which is Swedish technology. it has Chinses Radar that can easily mount AIM-9 and AIM120C5. There is also secure communication through LINK 17, faster and uninterrupted and Jam proof. JF-17 Block 3 has AESA Radar which is more powerful and new Electric warfare suite which is only available in the only operation Chinese 5th Gen fighter J-20. It got PL-15 and PL-21 in future which hit any target up to 300 km. Can rafale escape in BVR condition when AWACS can detect it from 400 KM and Missile can hit it from 300 Km. Not even a chance.   

Last but not least. Ecosystem. JF-17 is built here. We have all the necessary technologies to built and upgrade as we want. The PAC has rebuilding facility so spare parts are not the problem. The engineers are trained enough to upgrade it with in the country. India cannot. Because there is no Technology of Transfer happened. 

Numbers matter as Russian philosophy says but the quality also matters as per Western Philosophy. Both are not in the favour of IAF. Indian pilots are famous to bring down their own planes. 36 is less number. India needs more to counter Pakistan. Therefore, in the end, I would like to say. Rafale is not mattered but the training more valuable. IAF very rarely conduct exercises with foreign Airforce. whereas Pakistan does on yearly basis. The reason is simple. Pakistan Airforce has the best pilots and connectivity with western airforces. 

The reality of the Rafale will judge in the next round of Kashmir. But till that time where JF-17 stand in comparison. Time will decide.