NO ONE CAN STOP AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME 

Its like this.

Firstly let us accept that oft repeated  adage that 'no arm or service can win a war by itself'.

So in no way is this article any reflection on the capabilities and combat power of the IAF.

Without the support of the formidable Indian Air Force, the Indian Army just cannot  dream for any operation of war to succeed; even partially!

Secondly, we all know that if turf wars (and one up-manship) can exist between our own arms- they definitely exist and thrive between the three services;

for weapon systems, for assets, for war machines, for finance and for control over all the dimensions of modern warfare to include cyber and space domains, intelligence gathering, the signal spectrum and even physical boundaries in terms of air, space, land and sea-- you name it.

It took a court martial and a world war for the United States Army Airforce (USAAF) to become the United States Air Force (USAF), the world's most powerful  air force. 

Gen Billy Mitchel is today remembered as the man whose 'idea' it was that air power will be a battle winning factor in all future wars. And the man had to sacrifice his career before his  idea was accepted.

 An 'idea' opposed by many till it became a reality.

Post independence we saw our nation fighting four major wars till 1971. We saw the number of Air OP units increasing. We saw the Air OP convert from vintage fixed wing planes to modern jet/turbine engined helicopters (albeit with great initial resistance from the IAF).

Soon the 'idea' of the Indian Army having it's own 'air arm' too saw germination.

Great Britain had already transited from the old Air OP to the Army Air Corps in 1957 and Pakistan soon followed suit in 1958.

But a different struggle was taking place here at home.

 

Once the IAF airpower and strategic reach began growing by  leaps and bounds in the late 70's/early80's, the IAF modified its doctrine to deep strikes, counter air operations, interdiction and air dominance.

 BAS now became a low priority. It was also felt that a multi million rupee aircraft or  helicopter was just  to valuable to lose  flying low and slow over the TBA.

And as  armed helicopters gave way to the attack helicopter, progressive militaries of the world realised that 

for the most effective  tactical employment of these helicopters in the battlefield, they were better suited to be with and 'under' the ground forces.

By now we had acquired the MI 24. It was new, it was powerful and it packed a punch. 

Ofcourse it was  later realised that these  huge lumbering 'gun ships' may not survive the intense AD environment of the modern battlefield- - and they definitely did not suit our overall plan to fight a war in the subcontinent.

But it was a new toy and it was something and in those days nothing else was available. The IAF got it but no one could really appreciate as to how it would be used in the TBA, least of all the Indian Army.

 None the less it was strange to see this new toy acquired by the IAF doing practice manoeuvres  and stand-alone NOE flying during the early days with hardly any coordination or joint training with army formations for its battlefield employment. 

Meanwhile as the 'idea' of the Indian Army having an 'air arm' became stronger, so did the resistance from the IAF towards this 'idea'.

But the world had moved on. 

And just as progressive militaries of the world today recognize cyber, space and drone warfare as the ' in ' thing, progressive minds in the IAF, the IA, and the MoD accepted that the  time for the 'idea' of  

the Army Aviation had come. 

It was the  'in' thing!

But you required trained ground crews, EO's, bases, support structure, support equipment, training, ATCO's, pilots, evaluations et al.

The IAF, having accepted the concept did extend a helping hand. The brass in the Airforce and the Army knew that the enemy was not within -- it was without.

And soon the AA came into being.

 Granted it was no easy exercise.

 There were teething troubles, some failures, and many 'I told you so's' (sic).

 But as they say-- nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. 

It took it's time. 

And now with time, it's a much healthier relationship of mutual respect between the AA and the IAF.

 Today the AA has the best machines  the best pilots, its own bases, its own maintenance, support and training facilities and the desired amount of integration with the ground forces.

 And to top it all, it is no longer 'unarmed into battle'. 

Times have changed.

In the end, no one lost. We all won.

The Indian military won.

🇮🇳

A hard fought victory for sure - and many will recognise the original

AH 64  below