In Geopolitics Today - Thursday, September 23rd
Russia’s Military Aircraft Showing Their Age and India Undertaking Drastic Reorganisation of its Military
Russia’s Military Aircraft Showing Their Age
The Russian Air Force has had a difficult year so far. During the month of August alone, the Air Force lost five aircraft due to accidents all within a two-week period. Among the aircraft lost in this latest series of accidents are an Su-24 fighter-bomber, two MiG-29 fighter jets, and a Be-200 twin-jet amphibious aircraft. Age, poor design and, more importantly, insufficient maintenance all together make the loss rate for the Russian Air Force much higher than that of its peers.
For the United States, a rival of Russia, combat aircraft have been refined over the years, now offering better reliability and allowing for easier maintenance. Better engineering practices as well as the widespread adoption of advanced sensor technologies have made it easier for maintenance personnel to detect potential problems on highly complex aircraft. Much of the costs involved in fielding America’s advanced fighter aircraft are made up of continual maintenance and upgrade phases. These costs, while staggering for something like the F-35, are nonetheless something the US is able and willing to bear.
Some estimates place Russian military loss rates for aircraft in similar terms to NATO-operated loss rates some fifty years ago. But in Russia’s case, many of these accidents with long-serving aircraft could be avoided if Russia were able to uphold a more efficient maintenance framework. The incident involving the loss of the MiG-29, for instance, occurred while the aircraft was undergoing maintenance during which is said to have caught fire. US and NATO maintenance crews are often veterans who remain in uniform to give their forces an edge in reliability, readiness and low loss rates.
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India Undertaking Drastic Reorganisation of its Military
India has for many years neglected any concrete plans to overhaul its military. But now such aspirations are getting a new life as Prime Minister Modi’s government aligns ever-closer to the US and its allies. Modi will attend a meeting of Quad leaders at the White House on Friday while he moves to integrate the army, air force and navy at home. A more unified armed forces would will primarily make it easier for India to link up with forces from the US and its allies.
Early attempts at collaborative exercises between Quad partners have led the group to conclude that they are only able to exercise with one Indian service at a time. Over recent decades, Indian leaders have worked to keep military command and control structures divided between the main military arms in order to avoid coups. Considering Washington’s longstanding focus on inter-operability as well as a recent push to integrate military communication across all domains, potential operations in tandem with India are problematic under present circumstances.
The move to restructure the military is ultimately designed to allow India’s forces to operate seamlessly across land, sea, and air together with Quad partner nations. All this is necessary because the three services still don’t have a secure communication network. Under current proposals, existing theatre commands would be expected to pool assets and resources to effectively deal with threats emanating from China and Pakistan. At the same time, India will look to shift away its imbalanced focus on the Army and its land forces, and move toward building up capabilities in Indo-Pacific waters.
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