ISLAMABAD: The recent escalation in tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours – Pakistan and India – following the Pahalgam incident in Indian-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), has once again exposed India’s war-mongering posture and placed the operational readiness of its armed forces under scrutiny.
On April 22, gunmen opened fire on visitors in the Pahalgam area of IIOJK, killing at least 26 people and injuring 17 others.
Within minutes of the incident, Indian media outlets blamed Pakistan without providing any credible evidence.
Pakistan strongly denied any involvement, accusing India of orchestrating terror attacks to malign Pakistan’s image and sponsoring terrorism on Pakistani soil.
Due to the long history of Pakistan-India tensions, highlighted by the downing of an IAF MiG-21 and the capture of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has once again come under discussion.
According to available data, up until September 2023, the IAF had lost 2,374 aircraft in crashes, including 1,126 fighter jets and 1,248 non-fighter aircraft.
Additionally, 229 trainer aircraft and 196 helicopters have crashed over the years, resulting in the deaths of 1,305 skilled pilots.
These figures have been shared by official Indian media sources. According to Indian experts, the Indian Air Force is not prepared for any kind of war due to its ageing fleet of combat aircraft.
The number of aircraft lost by the IAF exceeds the equivalent of 50 squadrons. Some of these aircraft and pilots were lost during the wars with Pakistan in 1947–1948, 1965, and 1971, and during the Kargil conflict in 1999.
During the 1962 war with China, the IAF did not conduct combat operations. However, in the 1965 war with Pakistan, the IAF suffered significant losses, including 59 aircraft destroyed on the ground, many of them during preemptive strikes by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) at Pathankot and Kalaikunda.
These losses exposed major shortcomings in Indian intelligence and preparedness. Even the IAF’s official history of the 1965 war acknowledges that it “suffered disproportionately higher losses” compared to the PAF.
An audit report titled Aircraft Accidents in the IAF, 2002, prepared by the Public Accounts Committee found that the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) accident rate per 10,000 flying hours ranged between 0.89 and 1.52 during the period from 1991 to 1997.
For fighter aircraft specifically, the rate was higher, ranging from 1.89 to 3.53, while for MiG-21 variants, it was even more pronounced, ranging between 2.29 and 3.99.
According to fact-finding reports by numerous committees, human error, technical faults, harsh weather, and bird hits are the main causes of accidents of IAF accidents.
Technical faults due to poor maintenance and the non-availability of spare parts, especially for MiG variants after badly exposed the IAF’s combat capability.
The reports highlight lapses in the basic training facilities of the IAF and its failure to upgrade the HPT-32 Stage-1 trainer aircraft.
It is pertinent to mention that an Indian Air Force aircraft hit a house in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district on Friday, causing severe damage.
The Indian Air Force, in a statement on X, confirmed the incident and regretted the damage caused to the property.
“The IAF regrets the damage caused today to property on the ground, near Shivpuri, by the inadvertent drop of a non-explosive aerial store from an IAF aircraft, and has instituted an inquiry into the incident,” it said.
