Advanced air power is no longer a luxury

When it comes to natural disasters, air power can provide rapid humanitarian assistance. It supports both military security and national resilience.

India’s air power today sits at the centre of a far more complex security environment than at any point in the past two decades. The challenge is not only the classic two-front problem with China and Pakistan, but also the need to modernise fast enough to preserve deterrence. At the same time, air warfare is being transformed by drones, missiles, cyber, space, and networked targeting.

China is India’s most significant long-term strategic challenge. The military standoff in eastern Ladakh since 2020 demonstrated that border tensions can escalate rapidly and require sustained military preparedness. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force has undergone extensive modernisation over the past two decades. China has also developed extensive military infrastructure in Tibet and Xinjiang. These include upgraded airbases, hardened aircraft shelters, extended runways, and logistics facilities capable of supporting sustained air operations near the Indian border.

Pakistan relies on non-state actors funded and trained on its own soil to keep India in a state of unrest through disinformation, incitement and terrorism. It remains a security threat across the nuclear, conventional and sub-conventional dimensions simultaneously. The 2019 Balakot air strike and the recent Operation Sindoor highlighted the growing role of air power in India’s strategy of punitive deterrence. India’s ability to conduct precision strikes deep inside hostile territory demonstrated a willingness to employ air power. However, the subsequent aerial engagement also emphasised the importance of superior situational awareness, electronic warfare, and beyond-visual-range combat capabilities.

The rise of autonomous drones is one of the most significant developments in contemporary air warfare. Drones have moved from being merely surveillance vehicles to becoming versatile weapons. They can deliver precise strikes and engage in electronic warfare, in addition to carrying out reconnaissance and collecting intelligence. In recent conflicts, it has been shown that relatively cheap drones can cause disproportionate damage to advanced military equipment. Swarm drone technology in particular presents considerable difficulties for traditional air defence systems since it is hard to track and destroy several low-cost aerial targets at the same time. India is now encountering increasing drone-related threats on both its western and northern borders, and reports of drone-enabled smuggling, surveillance, and cross-border infiltration highlight the importance of having strong counter-drone capabilities.

Air operations have become heavily reliant on secure communication networks, satellite navigation, and data links. As aerial warfare platforms become moreinterconnected, they also become more susceptible to cyberattacks and electronic interference. Enemies could disrupt air operations by attacking communication systems, navigation networks, or mission-critical software. Electronic warfare can greatly reduce the effectiveness of the most advanced aircraft. Protection of digital infrastructure has become as important as protecting airbases.

India must invest in secure communications, encrypted data links, and cyber defence capabilities.

Space has emerged as a critical component of air power. The term airpower has evolved into aerospace power, with the aerial warfare envelope expanding into the space domain. Space-based systems and applications are embedded in every aspect of aerial warfare. They are providing capabilities including navigation, targeting, communication, early warning of missile launches, and space-based surveillance. The integration of space-based systems with air assets is expected to increase further. This will create opportunities for both offensive and defensive operations. However, increasing dependence on satellite-based systems also creates vulnerabilities. Anti-satellite warfare spans kinetic weapons such as missiles as well as non-kinetic systems, including jammers, laser dazzlers and spoofing equipment. Denial of space-based systems has a direct bearing on air warfare. India’s strategic interests are not restricted to its own borders. The Indo-Pacific area is now the centre of global economic activity and strategic competition. It is seeing a rise in naval deployments, disputes over maritime routes, and a growing number of military cooperation agreements. Air power plays a vital role in protecting maritime interests by enabling long-range surveillance, carrying out anti-submarine warfare, conducting maritime reconnaissance, and allowing for the rapid deployment of forces. The ability to monitor important sea lanes, respond effectively to humanitarian crises, and assist in naval operations confirms India’s status as a major security provider in the Indian Ocean region.

India’s military aspirations must align with its socioeconomic condition and likely threats. The path forward for India is clear: it must enhance its deterrence capability while investing in future warfighting technologies. With its significant offensive potential and responsiveness, air power is the most crucial arm of military action. As the nature of warfare evolves, India’s approach to air power must keep pace. The future lies in building an integrated, technology-driven, and self-reliant aerospace ecosystem capable of addressing conventional, asymmetric, and multidomain threats. Sustained investment in modernisation, indigenous innovation, joint military operations, and human capital will be essential for maintaining India’s strategic advantage. Warfighting capability and the capacity to sustain operations are both essential, representing a combination of quality and quantity. While India’s air power capabilities (in terms of reach, high-altitude operations, precision, standoff, and all-weather performance) have advanced significantly, the numerical strength of fighter aircraft, combat enablers, long-range vectors, and drones must be increased concurrently. One of the Indian Air Force’s foremost priorities is to restore its fighter squadron strength. Bridging this gap necessitates the timely induction of new-generation aircraft (fighters and combat support aircraft), whilst ensuring that modernisation plans are financially sustainable.

Self-reliance has become a strategic necessity. Relying on imported defence equipment creates vulnerabilities. India should develop its own technological abilities and increase its defence manufacturing capacity. It will reduce dependence on foreign suppliers. Indigenous development of radars, electronic warfare systems, missiles, drones, and aircraft components will strengthen India’s technological base while generating employment and promoting exports.

As part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat effort in defence manufacturing, the aim is to enhance self-reliance by encouraging the domestic production of these systems.

The initiative has sped up domestic defence production by involving more public sector enterprises, private industries, start-ups, and research institutions. It will be essential for the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, academic institutions, and the private sector to work together to shorten development timelines and promote innovation.

Advances in technology are further impacting the nature of air warfare. Precision-guided munitions, stealth technology, network-centric operations, satellite-enabled communications, artificial intelligence, and autonomous drones are all altering the battlefield. Autonomous drones and the idea of loyal wingmen are expected to transform aerial combat. India should also make investments in directed-energy weapons, advanced electronic warfare capabilities, and cyber-resilient command-and-control networks. These technologies can greatly increase operational effectiveness while reducing risks to personnel. Air power assets are highly dependent on technology. Turning technology into capability takes a long time. To stay on top of the challenges, there is a need to invest in emerging technologies and ideate about their utilisation in warfare. Impetus is also required for some of the existing aviation-related programmes like fifth-generation fighters, transport aircraft (for civil and military requirements), development of gas turbines and engines, sensors and seekers, stealth, metallurgy and composites, unmanned platforms and swarms, AI-enabled autonomous systems and long-range vectors.

Grey-zone operations are operations in the contested arena somewhere between routine statecraft and open warfare. These are becoming a norm in modern-day warfare. Both adversaries of India are resorting to these operations regularly. Airpower can reinforce the nation’s course of action against grey zone warfare, with involvement in several direct and supporting roles. Besides offensive use, it can also be effectively utilised in many ways in non-conventional hostile situations categorised above. A certain amount of reorientation is required in the application of airpower in these grey zone situations, supported by capability enhancement in certain fields.

India’s air power is at a crucial stage. The combination of competing regional interests, technological progress, and changes in warfare has increased the strategic value of air power. Since India is facing challenges from both China and Pakistan and the Indo-Pacific region is becoming more important, there is a need for constant modernisation and strategic adjustment.

India can make sure that its air power remains capable of protecting its national interests in this ever more uncertain and contested geopolitical environment by promoting innovation, supporting domestic research, and adopting multidomain warfare.