Can India fight nuclear war? IAF Gagan Shakti exercise finds out: 10 points

IAF deployed all its assets for pan-Indian exercise, with fighter jets equipped with weapons like Brahmos supersonic cruise missile and Harpoon anti-ship missile carrying out deep penetration strikes

The Indian Air Force's (IAF’s) Gagan Shakti exercise tested the air warriors' ability to deal with nuclear and biological warfare. The 13-day mega military exercise, aimed at sharpening IAF's war-waging capability amid a fast-evolving regional security situation, also tested IAF's ability to fight a two-front war with China and Pakistan. Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said the IAF achieved more than its stated "objectives" during the exercise, conducted from April 8 to April 20. The IAF flew over 11,000 sorties, including nearly 9,000 by its combat aircraft – the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas acquitted itself well during the mega drill and showed a satisfactory performance.

Showcasing its teeth, the IAF deployed all its assets for the pan-Indian exercise, with fighter jets equipped with strategic weapons like the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile and Harpoon anti-ship missile carrying out deep penetration strikes to revalidate the fighting force's strategic reach. The exercise saw the IAF's Sukhoi, Jaguar, Mirage 2000, MiG 29, and Tejas combat aircraft proving their mettle. The exercise covered all terrains, including the desert, high-altitude areas like Ladakh, and the maritime sphere. All types of aerial weapons, including standoff and precision weapons, were deployed to validate their use in the IAF's air operations strategy.

Further, as part of Gagan Shakti, the IAF carried out massive drills involving its frontline fighter jets to test its capability to dominate the entire extended area of the Indian Ocean Region. This comes at a time when the People's Liberation Army Navy has been trying to expand China's influence in critical sea lanes around India. The drill was IAF's biggest combat exercise in the past three decades.

Here are the top 10 details you must know about Indian Air Force's Gagan Shakti exercise:

1) IAF says it is ready for nuclear war: The IAF tested its capability in dealing with a possible scenario of nuclear and biological warfare during the Gagan Shakti exercise. Official sources said that the focus of the drill was to check the viability of IAF's operational plans meant to deal with any kind of challenge, including nuclear warfare.

Sources told news agencies that the force was satisfied with its capability and readiness to deal with a biological, chemical, and nuclear war.

2) IAF says it is ready for two-front war with China and Pakistan: The Gagan Shakti mega drill was also aimed at checking the viability of IAF's plans to deal with a two-front war with China and Pakistan.

"We achieved relocation and rebalancing of assets from one sector to another in 48 hours," Dhanoa said. Explaining the significance, a senior IAF official said the objective of rebalancing and relocation was to quickly flatten the enemy in one front and redeploy the assets in another sector within 48 hours – in a possible two-front war scenario.

During combat drills near Sino-India border, the IAF significantly focused on inter-valley transfer of troops, considering various possible situations of conflict and taking a lesson from the Doklam standoff.

3) IAF chief says Gagan Shakti achieved more than its objectives: Gagan Shakti, the 13-day long mega military exercise by the IAF, achieved more than its stated "objectives", Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said, indicating the fighting forces' readiness for dealing with a hostile Pakistan and China almost simultaneously. "All men and women of the IAF rose to the occasion and achieved things beyond our stated objectives," the IAF Chief told news agencies. "The overall objective of Gagan Shakti was fully achieved," he said without elaborating.

4) India's home-built Tejas does well in Gagan Shakti, but IAF worried about slow production: The Indian-designed and built LCA Tejas performed well while it was put to trial by the IAF in war-like operational conditions during Gagan Shakti. "We did trials and validation of operational efficiency of LCA Tejas. We were able to generate six sorties per platform per day. In this exercise, we had deployed eight platforms," an IAF official who was associated with this exercise told news agencies. On the first day, six of Tejas jets reported "snag", which were of a different kind. "But we were able to get those rectified soon," said the official. The Tejas' six daily sorties matched IAF's other platforms, including the Sukhoi, Mirage 2000, and MiG 29 jets.

The officials associated with the exercise expressed their satisfaction over the performance but were also worried about the slow production rate. "We are happy with the Tejas. We are looking for fast production and also induction into the force," they said.

The Tejas LCA is a supersonic, single-seat, single-engine multirole light fighter jet that has been under development since 1983 by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

5) Massive drill involved all weapons and combat platforms, all terrains: The IAF deployed its entire war-waging machinery for the pan-India exercise, with fighter jets, equipped with strategic weapons like Brahmos and Harpoon missiles, carrying out deep penetration strikes.

According to a senior IAF official, over 1,400 IAF officers and 14,000 personnel were part of the exercise, for which preparations started around nine months back. During the exercise, the sources said over 11,000 sorties were flown which included nearly 9,000 sorties by fighter aircraft. They added that all types of aerial weapons, including standoff and precision weapons, were deployed.

Further, officials said the IAF demonstrated its ability to reach maritime targets as far away as 4,000 kilometres in the Malacca Straits but the force stuck to the targets provided by the Indian Navy, none of which were in the waterway around Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

The exercise covered all terrains, including the desert, high-altitude areas like Ladakh, and the maritime sphere.  

6) Joint operations with Army, Navy and networked warfare tested: Gagan Shakti focused on the flexible use of airspace, joint maritime air operations with the Indian Navy, joint operations with the Indian Army, simulated combat search and rescue for effective extraction of downed aircrew behind enemy lines, among other possible mission scenarios, officials told news agencies. They said that the aim of the exercise was to ensure real-time coordination and deployment of airpower in a short and intense battle scenario and that the objective was fully achieved.
 

The officials also said that the concepts of network-centric operations and long-range missions were tested effectively.

Dhanoa said that the IAF achieved all parameters of serviceability, surge operations, relocation of resources, and joint operations with the Army and Navy during the exercise, which were crucial aspects of the war-fighting machinery.

7) IAF was able to ensure high serviceability levels for its jets, missiles: Ensuring serviceability of fighter aircraft and various missile systems was a priority area during the exercise and the IAF succeeded in its endeavour, officials said. The serviceability of surface-to-air missiles was around 97 per cent, while the serviceability of fighter jets was close to 80 per cent, they said.

Serviceability refers to the availability of an aircraft or a weapon system for deployment. The IAF has been struggling to maintain high serviceability levels of its platforms due to difficulty in getting required spares.

Similarly, the IAF could ensure high levels of dispatch reliability, which refers to the ability to make the serviceable flying platforms airborne as and when required, the officials said.

IAF officials told news agencies that state-run defence organisations such as Defence Research and Development Organisation, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, and Ordnance Factory Board, among others, also provided adequate support. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was impressed by the ordnance efficiency, they added.

8) IAF carries out extensive exercise over the Indian Ocean region: As part of Gagan Shakti, the IAF carried out massive drills using its frontline combat aircraft, in order to test its capability to dominate the entire extended area of the Indian Ocean Region. The IAF's Sukhoi and Jaguar fighter aircraft, equipped with Brahmos and Harpoon missiles, showcased their strategic reach and capability to carry out any sort of operation over the area.

The IAF said it effectively exercised its maritime war-fighting concepts on both the Western and Eastern seaboards, adding that the drill was also aimed at containing any "misadventure" by any adversary in India's area of interest in the Indian Ocean Region.

The drill came at a time when the Chinese navy has been trying to expand its influence in the region.

"Air Dominance over the entire extended area of the Indian Ocean Region in support of the Indian Navy is being demonstrated by employment of combat enablers like the FRA (Flight Refuelling Aircraft) in conjunction with our maritime fighter forces of the Su-30 and Jaguar class jets carrying potent long distance anti shipping weaponry," the IAF had said.

9) IAF conducts long-range bombing exercise: As part of the combat drills, the IAF conducted long-range bombing exercises. During the long-range bombing operations, the aircraft got airborne from Kalaikonda, in West Bengal, to run bombing operations over the area of Lakshadweep and returned back. In between, IAF's air refuellers refuelled the bombers to give them their reach and again conducted refuelling on the way back. This also showed the IAF's preparedness and reach to respond over the Indian Ocean region in case of any contingency.

10) Neighbours were kept in loop: Pakistan and China were informed about the Gagan Shakti exercise.