The humiliating defeat over the Siachen Glacier has become the biggest topic of conversation in the Indian Air Force in the past two days.

In this regard, Colonel Sumit Prayan, the leader of the 7th Squadron, who personally participated in the battle, said privately that the Air Force would lose face if it failed like this......

……

"So, Colonel, do you think that the other party should have obtained information about the number, model, and detachment strategy of our aircraft from the Huaxia people in advance, so that they can respond in advance?"

In a conference room at the Western Air Command, several Air Force leaders, including the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Admiral Kryppa, and the Chief of Staff of the Western Air Command, Lieutenant General Badaoria, were listening to Prayan's review and analysis of the air combat operation a few days earlier.

"That's right, otherwise those fighters of the Huaxia Air Force would not have appeared near us so coincidentally."

The latter nodded very firmly:

"Although there is certainly no direct command between them, and they can only have a one-time ventilation before takeoff, the tactics we formulated in advance are too rigid, and we have not adjusted the whole execution process, so in the end, we were beaten by the opponent who had prepared for it."

"Actually, even so, relying on the performance advantage of our fighters, we could have maintained the balance of power, but because there was no data link and no command that could see the whole situation, I could only rely on radio in the cabin to obtain radar sectors and search for target information beyond the distance, which delayed the most critical time of about a minute......

Prayan's report, ostensibly admitting his own command problems, but a little deeper analysis reveals that he completely plucked himself out of it.

In fact, the U.S. military achieved complete universality of Link16 under test conditions, and it was more than 20 years later, when Chang Haonan was reborn.

"In the absence of a common data link for the three services, fighter radar and radio alone cannot achieve effective air situational awareness and command, and we need to build a plateau radar station like Huaxia, or an early warning command aircraft."

This passage seems to give three options, but in fact it is not-

And the plateau radar station ......

The first to ask questions was Admiral Klingpa, who sat in the middle across from him.

"Isn't there anything else to improve?"

At this moment, the entire conference room fell silent in an instant.

Of course, this can only be considered a routine question.

However, Prayan did not go around in circles, but directly gave his own conclusions:

At this juncture, the Indian army's early warning aircraft project is a matter that is not very convenient for public discussion.

Therefore, there is only one last thing that is really feasible - to engage in early warning aircraft.

Of course, this is indeed a crime of non-war.

"So, your conclusion is ......"

This kind of debate is largely about the internal interests of different groups, not entirely military issues, so generals who don't want to get themselves into trouble tend to subconsciously avoid such topics.

Prayan shook his head decisively, and then added:

"Regarding the role that AWACS aircraft can play in air combat, I think that no one in the entire Air Force knows better than you......"

Since then, the top brass of Congress and the military have relapsed into a debate over whether to create their own or find an outsider to settle the matter.

Krympa really didn't want to get tangled up with the old men who didn't wear military uniforms.

"Nope."

A few months ago, in January 1999, India's domestic HS748 platform early warning aircraft, which had been heavily invested and had high hopes, had just crashed due to unreasonable aerodynamic design.

The common data link of the three armed forces, which belongs to something that even the US military in the late 90s did not dare to think of.

A glance at the topographic map shows that the Himalayas rise almost vertically over the border, and the Indian side happens to be at a lower altitude.

It was quiet again.

Looking at the few generals who had been silent for a long time, Prayan sighed in his heart, and had no choice but to sacrifice the ultimate move that had been prepared for a long time:

"In addition, considering the ridiculously fast reaction speed of the Huaxia people this time, I suspect that they have deployed planes at the plateau airport on a regular basis."

"If this is the case, then the Huaxia Air Force will have an altitude advantage of nearly 3,000 meters over us, combined with the early warning command capability provided by the plateau early warning radar......"

The colonel did not finish, but the meaning of the second half of the sentence was already very obvious.

This is absolutely unacceptable to Indians who aspire to become a big country with a strong voice.

"Alright, Colonel, matters concerning Huaxia are beyond the scope of this discussion."

Badaoria, who was next to him, said and waved his hand:

"Let's get here today, you can go back and rest first."

……

After Prayan left, Klingpa, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair with his arms folded, revealing a complicated expression.

The reason why the former said that just now is because Krympa was the first pilot of the Indian Air Force to shoot down an enemy plane under the command of an early warning aircraft.

It was also because of this achievement that he completed the leap from an elderly pilot to a senior commander.

And this has to be said that a certain big country in South Asia has repeatedly tossed and turned in early warning aircraft.

In 1971, in order to cope with the imminent conflict, the Indian Air Force wet-leased a Tu-126 AWACS aircraft from the Soviet Air Force at that time.

It was also thanks to the help of this aircraft that, in the case of a rear-hand operation, achieved almost twice the record of the opponent.

The conflict also ended in a resounding victory for the Indian side.

It stands to reason that after such a battle, they should be able to intuitively feel the value of early warning aircraft as a combat power multiplier, and even if they don't start self-development, they will have to buy a few and use them first.

However, the choice of the Indians was to further establish relations with the Soviet army and plan to continue the lease of the ...... the next time they needed

It's not even better to buy than to build, but it's better to buy than to rent in the literal sense.

Later, after many efforts by the Air Force, Stan Airlines finally launched an ASP program for its own AWACS aircraft, and the product is the aforementioned HS748AEW&C.

As a result, due to Party A's refusal to reduce the performance indicators, the designers had to forcibly install a huge radar with a diameter of 7.5 meters on a small aircraft about the size of the Y-7 (for comparison, the E3 and A50 are only 9 meters), resulting in a plummeting flight performance.

It finally crashed a few months ago.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this ASP plan with a low eye is no longer possible.

It is currently in the stage of splitting the pot after the failure of the project.

Party B accused Party A of being ambitious, and the indicators put forward were simply unrealistic to talk in a dream, while Party A said that Party B collected so much money and did not do anything, for fear that it would not swallow all the money.

"What do you think of Colonel Prayan's suggestion?"

It was only after a few minutes that Klingpa sat up straight again and asked his colleagues sitting opposite him for advice.

For a while, no one answered.

In the end, it was Badaoria, who was second only to Krympa in military rank, who spoke:

"Although in his statement just now, it is inevitable that he has the intention of shirking responsibility, but ......"

The lieutenant general deliberately hesitated at this point.

After all, Prayan is his subordinate, and saying good things to the other party at this time will inevitably be suspicious of protection.

After making sure that his boss did not show dissatisfaction, he continued:

"But I think the problem that the Colonel just mentioned is also real."

"In the past, the Huaxia people could not deploy aircraft on the plateau, so the terrain was an advantage for us, and the radar on the snow line could only be regarded as a trouble at best, and it was not a threat, but now, ...... The situation may have changed. ”

Klingpa naturally understands the off-string sounds:

"Do you also think that the Huaxia people moved the plane to the plateau?"

This kind of thing, in the absence of satellite reconnaissance means, and the MiG-25 does not dare to fly casually now, is naturally difficult to explain clearly.

But Badaoria did not answer directly:

"Chief of Staff, the MiG-25 was shot down the year before last, but it has not been investigated clearly......

This hint is an outstanding.

I saw that Klingpa's face began to be cloudy, and he held his chin with one hand and fell into thought.

(End of chapter)