As India completes 50 years of its humiliating defeat at the hands of Chinese troops, the Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne on Friday said that there would not be any repeat of 1962 experience as there would not be any limitation on use of air power this time.
The IAF Chief said that the 1962 Indo-China war would have been different if the IAF was deployed in an offensive role. “But this time I can assure you there will be no such limitation. The IAF will play a leading role in not just against that or any other sector but anywhere,” the IAF Chief said when asked if IAF was equipped to deal with a situation like 1962.
During the 1962 war, the IAF was used only for the movement of troops and emergency evacuation. The lapse had been debated by the experts with many terming it ‘Himalayan Blunder’.
Without commenting on the Prime Minister’s decision then, Browne said: “Yes, no doubts about that. If air power was used at that time the outcome would have been totally different.”
“In the hindsight one can learn lessons from the history and these are open and glaring lessons we should have imbibed.”
He said a seminar would be held on October 26 to discuss if the result of the 1962 war would have been different if the IAF been used and we are convinced that it would have been different.
Making a point, the Chief said in Kargil War it was air power that ‘concluded’ the war.
“If IAF had not offensively got into the war at the right point of time the Kargil conflict would have continued for another three months at those impossible heights for our young jawans and officers to be climbing up and losing lives,” Browne said.
The IAF is also focusing on infrastructure building and strategic assets deployment in the northeastern region. The Force is soon going to sign contract with the US for purchasing six new C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft. The special operation aircraft will be deployed at Panagarh in West Bengal and “will take care of the eastern sector and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory”.
Can’t only depend on copters for Naxal Ops:
New Delhi: IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne on Friday made it very clear that there was a need for more effective operations by the men on the ground as far as the anti-Naxal ops were concerned.
“We have also explained to the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) that you can’t rely on heavy-lift helicopters for every little job that you have. You also need to start clearing the roads as well and the foot on the ground should start making the difference. We are there to support them in terms of logistics support, transportation, casualty evacuation and etc,” he said.
