p2prada
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Re: China can "throw" at least 21 fighter squadrons against India, fro
I had posted this in another thread,
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/...twin-challenge-china-pakistan.html#post715936
The author is overestimating PLAAF presence.
They currently have 350 - 400 Flankers (mix of old and new) and ~200 J-10s. At roughly 24 aircraft per squadron they come up to 22 - 25 squadrons, including all the trainers and reserves, compared to our figure of 18 - 21 per squadron. Other aircraft may not be used against IAF in offensive roles, but J-7s and J-8s are available. Beyond that 3 squadrons make a Regiment and 2 Regiments and sometimes 3 Regiments make a Division.
If they place 21 squadrons against IAF alone, then they will have to keep a mixed package of the remaining 1 - 3 squadrons against much larger forces of Japan, USN, VVS and Taiwan. Not happening. At best during wartime, they can probably maintain 15 squadrons against an equal number of "better" IAF jets while maintaining 10 squadrons in other areas.
In the low tech segment, PLAAF can overwhelm us with their J-7s and J-8s. But the Himalayas will be punishing for such aircraft to operate from Tibetan airbases. Also, the requirement in operating low tech birds will deny airbase space for other high tech jets from other squadrons based on the east coast. The low tech jets can make up another 25 squadrons or so, with many of them nearing the end of their service lives, similar to around 10 - 12 squadrons of Mig-21s and Mig-27s that we have in service today.
As for PAF, current F-16s are outdated, their Mirage-III/Vs (3 or 4 squadrons worth) are actually better aircraft and they have only one squadron of F-16s which can be termed high tech. Their JF-17 squadrons are merely training and conversion squadrons. Overall, their 21 - 26 squadrons pose a significantly smaller threat compared to the PLAAF. More than half the fleet is composed of older versions of F-7s and some vintage jets which should be in storage. Overall, 8 - 10 good squadrons with around 15 obsolete squadrons, at the same level as the old Mig-21s and Mig-27s (not the 6 Bison squadrons or the two Mig-27UPG squadrons). They are severely outmatched by just one or two MKI squadrons.
Better the aircraft we have, the better will be IAF's flexibility is moving assets between borders in a very short time, like the example of MKIs from Assam running strike missions in Pakistan.
I had posted this in another thread,
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/...twin-challenge-china-pakistan.html#post715936
The author is overestimating PLAAF presence.
They currently have 350 - 400 Flankers (mix of old and new) and ~200 J-10s. At roughly 24 aircraft per squadron they come up to 22 - 25 squadrons, including all the trainers and reserves, compared to our figure of 18 - 21 per squadron. Other aircraft may not be used against IAF in offensive roles, but J-7s and J-8s are available. Beyond that 3 squadrons make a Regiment and 2 Regiments and sometimes 3 Regiments make a Division.
If they place 21 squadrons against IAF alone, then they will have to keep a mixed package of the remaining 1 - 3 squadrons against much larger forces of Japan, USN, VVS and Taiwan. Not happening. At best during wartime, they can probably maintain 15 squadrons against an equal number of "better" IAF jets while maintaining 10 squadrons in other areas.
In the low tech segment, PLAAF can overwhelm us with their J-7s and J-8s. But the Himalayas will be punishing for such aircraft to operate from Tibetan airbases. Also, the requirement in operating low tech birds will deny airbase space for other high tech jets from other squadrons based on the east coast. The low tech jets can make up another 25 squadrons or so, with many of them nearing the end of their service lives, similar to around 10 - 12 squadrons of Mig-21s and Mig-27s that we have in service today.
As for PAF, current F-16s are outdated, their Mirage-III/Vs (3 or 4 squadrons worth) are actually better aircraft and they have only one squadron of F-16s which can be termed high tech. Their JF-17 squadrons are merely training and conversion squadrons. Overall, their 21 - 26 squadrons pose a significantly smaller threat compared to the PLAAF. More than half the fleet is composed of older versions of F-7s and some vintage jets which should be in storage. Overall, 8 - 10 good squadrons with around 15 obsolete squadrons, at the same level as the old Mig-21s and Mig-27s (not the 6 Bison squadrons or the two Mig-27UPG squadrons). They are severely outmatched by just one or two MKI squadrons.
Better the aircraft we have, the better will be IAF's flexibility is moving assets between borders in a very short time, like the example of MKIs from Assam running strike missions in Pakistan.