NEW DELHI: The meeting between the visiting Indian Defence Minister, Sharad Pawar, and his French counterpart, Pierre Joxe, on June 29 can be described as a highly successful one especially for the latter as they have more or less clinched the deal valued at approximately two billion dollars to supply Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) aircraft to India,

The meeting between the Defence Ministers of India and France to discuss and explore possibilities of intensifying defence cooperation between the two counties could not have taken place at a better time for France. The changed global scenario, end of the cold war and the new world order had ushered in an era where the French were finding themselves marginalized. While the world reels under a recession, the Shrinking arms market, which has always proved to be a lucrative pasture for France, has been compered by the United States which emerged as the arms supplier, In an attempt to sustain its arms industry, France has launched itself into hard selling its military products in the Asian region. It was quick to rope in some of the newly independent republics of the erstwhile Soviet Union, Even though it is attempting to penetrate the S.E. Asian arms market, its main attention is now focused on India and Pakistan as these conflicting neighbors provide ample scope for military sales.

The Indian Air Force has been pressing for an Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) since the late 70s to replace the Hunter, Kiran and Iskra Trainers. It was in early 1986 that the L.A.F, got the governments’ formal go ahead to evaluate and select a suitable AJT to enable young pilots not only to learn handling high performance jets but also to familiarize themselves with contemporary avionics and weapon systems. No sooner had the I.A.F, started its search for a new AJT then the Bofors scandal shook the Indian Government. No government official was willing to be linked in any way with a defence deal, as a result of which the process of selecting and acquiring an AJT for India suffered and got delayed.

Interestingly, though the bulk of the Indian Air Force operated various types of Soviet combat aircraft, the 1.A.F.’s search for an AJT was focused on European types (perhaps an indicator of the future fighter fleet of the LA.F.) such as the Italian Aermacehi MB339, the Czech Aero L-39 Albatros, Spain’s CASA C.101 Aviojet, British BAE, Hawk and Franco-German Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet. Finally, the two types” to be short-listed for the final run in were the British Hawk and the ”Franco-German Alpha Jet.

The competition between France and Britain to equip the 1.A.F. has been severe Aircraft from both countries have been inducted in the I . A. F, Service since its early days. This time the competition was much more fierce as the stakes were tight. Both the jet trainers have proved to be efficient as more than 500 of each type are cither on order or are being operated by various countries.

 A major difference between the two competing air craft types is that the Alpha Jet is essentially operated in close air support and ground attack roles by the German Luftwaff and the Nigen an and Egyptian Air Force, the aircraft being equipped with a center line canon pod and capable of carrying a maximum external load of 2500 kg.

The Luftwaffe have also developed tactics for the Alpha Je in the anti-helicopter gunship role. The Hawk, on the other hand, is not only an excellent trainer, but useful in close at Support and armed with two air to-air missiles for a Secondary air defence role as well. The Hawk UK.60, the main export model, has a 33% increase in disposable load and its armament options include trees fall and retarded bombs, cluster bombs and anti-ship missiles.

India, however, would insist on the transfer of technology so that it may produce under license the aircraft type finally selected as also its power plant. In this context, the Hawk has a definite edge over the Alpha jet.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 17, 1992