Is the Indian Air Force adequately protected on the ground against air attacks? The answer, according to the Defence Ministry itself, is ‘No’.

In its latest submissions to Parliament, the Ministry pointed out ‘‘acute shortages’’ that have led to ‘‘critical voids’’ in the IAF’s ground-based air defence capability.

Currently equipped with three kinds of Russia-made air defence missile systems, all decades old and demanding either replacement or upgradation, the IAF has been compelled to explore expensive French and Israeli weapon imports.

When contacted, Air Headquarters indicated that the current shortage had been compounded by a variety of factors, including slow sanction for fresh upgrades and an indigenous missile programme that is ‘‘nowhere near ready for operational clearance’’.

The force now operates three kinds of surface-to-air (SAM) missile systems, the mainstay S-125M Pechora, OSA-AK and Igla 1-M.

Of the 60 Pechora systems purchased from Russia between 1974-90 and deployed at frontier stations of the IAF, only 50 are operational. The number will be down by more than half by the end of this year to just 24 operational units. The Defence Ministry says the system is ‘‘suffering from ageing and lack of support’’.

The effort to upgrade the Pechora units began 14 years ago, but the Ministry has told Parliament that the programme will be completed only by 2010, making do for now with ground equipment modification (GEM) by Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics.

Russian and Polish upgrade offers in the last three years were shot down because of the high price tag. In the meantime, the MoD has even admitted that, to maintain the remaining Pechoras, the IAF will ‘‘reduce to produce’’, a jargon used for “cannibalisation” of spares, a recourse considered the last resort.

... contd.