In anticipation of a possible government decision to formally establish the IAF’s involvement in counter-insurgency operations, Air Headquarters has evolved a draft low-intensity conflict (LICO) profile for its overhauled war doctrine.

Information shared with The Indian Express shows that the IAF has grounded its profile principally on precision airborne intelligence, ‘‘multirole air support’’ for troops, range and target acquisition and early warning. So far, its contribution in J-K and the North East has been by and large restricted to logistic support.

Principally, the profile will constitute a detailed manual on how to formalise structures and reconfigure the force to support counter-insurgency missions in J-K and the North East. The fundamental thinking process at Air Headquarters is that the IAF has much to contribute beyond its conventional war-fighting capability.

Air Chief SP Tyagi first made known the IAF’s interest in being of more utility in such operations in August last year, following home minister Shivraj Patil’s own announcement that the IAF would shortly be roped in to up the ante against militants.

Confirming the process on to imbue the IAF with a new LICO profile, the Air Headquarters spokesperson told The Indian Express, ‘‘We are in the process of re-writing the entire doctrine. And keeping with the changing face of operations and scenarios, low-intensity conflict will be part of it. As has been said before by our Air Chief, without change, doctrine becomes dogma.’’

Following Air Chief Tyagi’s pronouncement that his force was available for use in counter-insurgency operations, the IAF communicated to the government that air power could ‘‘formidably enhance’’ the operations of ground forces. Sources indicate, therefore, that any finalised profile will necessarily imbibe conceptual inputs from the army.

... contd.