My participation on this thread has been much less than I would like, one of the reasons being some remarks being made on my profession.
Allow me to make to make some submissions – this will be slightly long.
A little bit about myself – I am a passionate aviation enthusiast who was blessed to be able to make aerospace and defence journalism as a career. It has allowed me to travel and report from aerospace and defence shows in 16 countries apart from India.
I have seen all kinds of reporting from superb, high quality and well-informed pieces of journalism, to the tripe that you will find on some print media, tv channels, websites, social media.
Today, there is a high level of interest in defence amongst the public (rightfully so), as the armed forces evoke a sense of awe, patriotism and pride.
Does this mean that they can do no wrong and must not be questioned?
Absolutely not, as proud democracy, the Indian public must and needs to know what is being done with taxpayers money (within the usual bounds of national security, etc).
It is not Anti-Indian or Unpatriotic for a journalist/citizen to raise a question on the conduct of our armed forces, indeed, it is expected!
Commentary on defence by the public is very much like conversations on politics, sports and the state of the economy. It is driven by pride, often limited amounts of knowledge and an insufficient understanding of situations, where information is released or hidden as per the requirement of interested parties that will gain from it.
If one does not like a story – does that mean that the journalist or publication has sold out ?
More often than not, this is not the case.
Some stories come out great cause of access, interactions and interviews but many are written on a deadline and the journalist has to make do with the best information available.
For many newspapers, websites, TV channels, time is at a premium and you have a team often juggling multiple responsibilities and not specialising on defence. You will come across the usual howlers, where an aircraft is mislabelled etc.
But more often than not today, the Journalist is derided for an article that people do not subscribe to.
Many aerospace and defence writers, journalists and commentators today also fall into the trap of simply not being able to say, ‘I Don’t Know’. If you don’t know for sure, don’t write about it. Write about what you do know and leave the other questions for the reader to think about.
Good Journalism takes time, but will stand the test of time – the best example of this being Team BHP official reviews. clap:
The simple truism of defence reporting on current matters of a highly sensitive nature is this “Those Who Know, Don’t Talk and Those Who Talk, Don’t Know!”
This applies to quotes or information provided by serving senior officers and personnel who are deeply involved in a particular mission / engagement / strike / exercise/etc. Information leaked without attribution from the source by merely stating ‘high level sources' etc are often best taken with a pinch of salt.
More than any other profession, secrecy is a way of life in the armed forces – and I have found in over a decade of reporting on aerospace and defence topics that not a single senior serving officer discussed a current operation or procurement on the record.
Defence reporting today is highly publicized/politicized and often used to drive agendas and weapons procurements.
Any Government of the day will like to take credit for actions taken by the armed forces and hence will regulate access to friendly journalists, willing to toe the official line.
Large defence contracts are often more about public perception, rather than the capability of the weapon itself. The hue and cry over the Rafale deal being a prime example.
Indian defence reporting is really only two decades old, as prior to that the number of media outlets were limited, as was the scope for coverage due to security reasons.
You will find some outstanding reporting in the India Today archives and surprising similarities with our procurement processes today.
Consumption of good media (Team BHP is an outstanding example) leads to a better-informed reader who trusts the opinion provided by the journalist (or moderator as in case of Team BHP) and develops a better critical thinking process. At the very least, an article should pique the readers interest to want to know more.
Let me break-up Domestic Indian defence English language reporting for those who are interested in being better informed.
Defence reporting is a particularly difficult and complex topic. The technology aspect is particularly difficult to navigate for any journalist as the pace of change is so fast. Also many companies use marketing jargon and often that is all there is to go by. Nobody will tell someone the actual range of a weapon, etc, Then they are strategic imperatives, geo-political issues etc.
As a simple example - you dont buy a Toyota because India is friends with Japan !
But India does buy weapons from the USA to maintain a good relationship with her, as it did with the erstwhile Soviet Union.
While a journalist may not have a military background, he/she will read up on topics, ask questions and over the course of a few years build up sufficient experience and instinct to report on a range of topics.
Retired military officers (Lt Gen/Air Mshls/Rear Admirals and the like) are often parochial and rarely criticise their own service or provide a balanced perspective.
However, there are exceptions and you may want to follow the writings of the two officers mentioned below.
Hence different levels of information and insight are provided by different authors and their publications based on the importance of defence reporting for their readership.
The newspapers provide information to a general audience without too much technicality and generally provide a broad understanding of a topic. Further reading of defence news makes the reader better informed as the years go by.
There will also be the occasional feature, which provides more detailed information.
In my opinion, newspapers are the cheapest and best way to gain access to quality defence reporting (Manu Pubby of the Economic Times, Ajai Shukla of Business Standard, Rajat Pandit of the Times of India, Dinakar Perri of the Hindu, Rahul Singh of the Hindustan Times are some of the names).
These are defence reporters and you will have other guys who cover commercial aviation.
You will also have excellent columns by Admiral (retd) Arun Prakash and Lt Gen (retd) HS Panag.
You then have print magazines - they will dig deeper, an excellent example being stories by Sandeep Unnithan in India Today or stories in the Week or Frontline (haven’t read in a while).
If you are following the above two examples, you are already a bonafide defence enthusiast and by now likely also following social media handles and blogs like Livefist (Shiv Aroor), Broadsword (Ajai Shukla) and websites.
This information gets more detailed during longer format TV programmes/Documentaries and interviews with senior officers and officials. The Netflix Documentary on the Vietnam war is the gold standard war documentary for me. The cruel, horrible and complex nature of war and its dynamics is brought out to great effect.
For the defence enthusiast who would like to take if further, you will of course have purchased books and autobiographies to read and can also access Indian aerospace and defence magazines, such as Vayu (India’s Oldest), Force Magazine, SP’s Publications, etc. There are many more, as you will find while attending Aero India and Def Expo and reading the Show Dailies.
The keen enthusiast will then graduate to western glossies such as Air Forces Monthly, Air International, Combat Aircraft (published in UK/USA) etc or the more trade focussed journals such as Asian Defence Technology, Asian Airlines & Aerospace, Armada, Asia Pacific Defence Review, Australian Aviation (published in SE Asia/APAC etc).
The most highly respected aerospace and defence publications are the older industry institutions such as Flight International (111 years old), Aviation Week and the much-respected Janes Defence Weekly.
These publications often have specialist journalists and access to contributors who have covered the beat for decades and are held to a higher standard of proof, accuracy/authenticity than less specialised publications. Do not expect these publications to be Pro-India or Anti-Pakistan – they call it as they see it.
So, what one knows or more importantly ‘What One Thinks They Know' stems from the type of information he/she is exposed to and a willingness to accept an alternate point of view
One aspect I can attest to after having the opportunity to travel and interact with the armed forces of various nations, is the sheer professionalism of the Indian armed forces.
Few militaries post WWII have done so much, with so less!
Truly, interacting with armed forces personnel as part of my job is the best part.
PAF Vs IAF?
My interactions with the Pakistan military have been a little odd, while the senior officers (Air Commodores/Group Captains) have been friendly, polite and courteous, the younger lot, seemed a bit cold. My most recent interaction, was a couple of years ago, at the Dubai airshow, where a PAF Pilot I had met in Malaysia, seemed distinctly uneasy but was still courteous and polite.
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is certainly an excellent air arm and their pilots are highly professional and well trained. Any adversary, who takes them lightly is making a mistake.
There is no shame in respecting a worthy adversary and preparing in advance to ensure his defeat.
As a much much smaller nation with a hardwired India persecution complex, the armed forces rule Pakistan and are world class in training and capability unlike the Middle Eastern nations. PAF pilots also get to fly the latest aircraft available with Middle East nations so are well versed with the latest in technology.
To simplify, an air battle with the IAF / PAF, is like a cricket match between India and Australia. Two highly competitive and professional teams, that are well trained and well led, that have the best of infrastructure and hate to lose. Just like in cricket, the side that plans and executes its plans well and has gamed all possibilities will win.
Just like the IAF performed with credit against the PAF with older equipment in 1965, today Pakistan has a decidedly ageing air force. What little money they have is spent on planning against a much larger and more capable adversary but one that has to spread its resources to also cater for China.
Just like in cricket, sometimes the score-card does not tell the whole story.
Both air forces performed their duties during the Balakot strikes. IAF jets managed to penetrate the airspace of Pakistan, the protection of which is the sole objective of the PAF and deliver munitions on a target.
The PAF showed its plucky nature, in quickly putting together a large force mission, but this was thwarted by a smaller Indian defending team. The SU-30 MKI is a large and non-stealthy aircraft, so the PAF would have rightly been assuming an easy kill with its AMRAAMs.
The physical evidence of a crashed MiG-21 Bison and a pilot in captivity, allowed the PAF to save face with its domestic audience, who would have been less forgiving otherwise. The propaganda value of a bloodied Indian pilot cannot be underestimated with regards to the Pakistani public and Jihadi training camps. The extremely sad loss of a Mi-17 helicopter to fratricide also worked in PAF’s favour.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s composure in captivity was extraordinary – may he be blessed with a long flying career and successful tenure in the IAF.
So, the IAF managed to penetrate PAF airspace and deliver munitions on target and also denied a large force PAF mission as a riposte. We have an F-16 downed claim and PAF has a confirmed downing of a MiG-21.
I am a bit surprised that the R-77 is being quoted as inferior to the AMRAAM, as it was always thought to be equivalent. In fact both the R-73 ‘Archer’ and R-77 ‘Alamo’ are very well regarded by their users.
How much does an AMRAAM cost?
A US notification for sale of up to two hundred (200) AIM-120D Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) to the UK was estimated cost at US$650 million and included missile containers; weapon system support equipment; support and test equipment; site survey; transportation; repair and return support; warranties; spare and repair parts; publications and technical documentation; maintenance and personnel training; training equipment; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, logistics, and technical support services; and other related elements of logistics and program support.
Malaysia purchased 35 RVV-AE missiles for US$35 million in 2012 !
RVV-AE
http://roe.ru/eng/catalog/aerospace-...issile/rvv-ae/ https://aviationweek.com/asia-aerosp...e-russias-r-77 https://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Rus-BVR-AAM.html
AMRAAM
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a195035.pdf https://airandspace.si.edu/object/nasm_A20030008000 https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-She...im-120-amraam/ Out of pure curiosity 4 or 5 years ago, I tried out the satellite view on google maps, of prominent IAF bases...and was shocked to see clear satellite images of each base. I could make out where each aircraft was parked, where the hangars, antennae etc. were.
I had also tried viewing prominent USAF bases and the satellite pics were (expectedly) sanitized with a blur.
Has anyone else noticed this about our air bases? Is this one of those things where the IAF brass might say "hey we parked our aircraft there on purpose when we knew that the satellite would pass overhead...we don't do that normally"? I've feared that Pathankot styled attacks are enabled by such imagery.