What is strategic forces command: In January 2003 the cabinet committee on security formed the Executive Council & Political Council of the Nuclear Command Authority to be chaired by the National Security Advisor and the Prime Minister respectively, who would thereon decide and authorize to push the nuclear button. The directives of the NCA are operationalized by the Strategic forces command (SFC) which formulates the nuclear war plan, handles the storage of India's some 100 odd nuclear warheads and their delivery systems.
The need for a strategic bomber: For many reasons and circumstances the country has gone through in the last seven years, for many strategic war plans that were put on the table for discussion at Sena Bhawan, for the failed missile tests marking them unreliable for nuclear delivery, the SFC has finally decided to order its own fleet of strategic bombers which are reliable enough to ensure a nuclear bomb delivery.
India's nuclear triad is hardly operational. The K-15 is not yet operational; neither does it have the range to hit Lahore, while safely sailing in the Arabian Sea. The Prithvis and the Agnis do not have the reliability that is required when you are shooting something like a N-bomb across the border. The Brahmos does not have enough range to hit Beijing, or hit Karachi without mobilizing the warheads far away from their trenches making them vulnerable to detection thereby losing the surprise and probably face neutralization. The IAF however does have the SU 30 MKI, MIG-29 and Mirage 2000 which can deliver the bomb embedded in Moskits or as gravity bombs, but in a war, each IAF plane will be committed to a mission thus not leaving the SFC with anything at hand to plan, rehearse and prepare for a second strike. So the SFC now needs its own aircraft to ensure that there are no hiccups at the time of war.
The Mission: So what does it take to air drop a nuclear weapon? Well the B-29 super fortress could do it. But times have changed. Today the bomber has to be stealthy, laden with the most latest of ECCM and jammers to be able to cross the border without activating the SAMs, It needs to be a robust platform and a heavy lifter to carry a 1000 pounder along with fuel pods enough to make the round trip from central India, say Pune. And at the same time it has to be a great dog fighter to be able to make its journey back evading the F-16s that would have scrambled by then. So one thing is clear, it needs to be a multi role fighter- stealthy, maneuverable and with substantial external load capacity.
Nothing but the Rafale: The SU-30 MKI is mainly an air superiority fighter, it is meant for defending, or to provide cover. While it does have the capability to strike deep inside Pakistan, it is much more vulnerable to detection, being a heavier, bigger aircraft. With a high RCS it doesn't really fall into the stealth category. The Eurofighter while being extremely stealthy and a great dogfighter, is not a great air to surface weapons delivery platform. The F-16 & The FA-18 super hornet have to be kept out of the SFC hangars I'm sure, considering that Pentagon is never, in all practical sensibilities, going to allow us to use them for Nuclear weapons delivery. MIG 29 is an old platform, already running out of steam and probably spares too. I don't think anyone is interested in buying a MIG nowadays. Infect after the merger, Sukhoi is not even interested in selling them. The Rafale is the Knight in shining armor. It is a proven ground attack platform, it has the best avionics, ECM and ECCMs, It's soon to get a top rated AESA. The cockpit is a pilot's dream. It's proven its mettle in Afghanistan, and guess what, has a carrier version too, just in case we start drooling"¦
Tools and reuse: However what really goes in the favor of the Rafale is that the Indian Air Force is more than happy with its older sibling – the Mirage 2000. In fact the Rafale had almost been finalized as the MMRCA, before the Americans got interested in the deal and the French quoted too high a price as a spoiler. The Mirage 2000 was used extensively to drop 1000 pounders with pin point accuracy at Kargil heights. India already has the capability to refurbish Dassault aircrafts. Rafale is going to be absorbed into the force mush easily. And it is also going to help us save a fortune on pilot training, tools and many reusable components.
Geopolitics: What is strikingly co-incidental is that the number of aircraft that have been put out on paper (40) as a requirement by the SFC exactly matches with what was offered by the French last year as a fast track deal. Sarkozy will be here in December; right after Obama would have made the MMRCA pitch for Boeing in return for 'something' at the Security Council. However the French have the guts and I'm sure the 'frank' will to veto it out. And that is why the Rafale will be chosen as the stallion of the Strategic Forces Command.
idrw.org security october issue
