When Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi lands in the US tomorrow for a ten-day tour, the Pentagon will tell him that one of the immediate needs for the Indian Air Force is to work on its sensor-to-shooter time, that is the time taken in detecting enemy targets from the air and destroying them.

Called “closing the loop” in technical terms, one of the IAF’s principal current efforts is directed at shaving off seconds from this sensor-to-shooter time.

A US Embassy official said, “The two air forces have held joint exercises twice and are very comfortable communicating with each other now. We have an institutionalised system of learning from each other, and letting the other know about possible improvements in technique or doctrine is part of that.”

Tyagi, who acknowledged in a recent interview to The Indian Express, that he “absolutely must” reduce the sensor-to-shooter time of his force, had made a request through military channels to have Washington give him a full-fledged tour of its network-centric operations (NCO) setup when he visits the country. “When I go there, I will ask them to tell me all about NCO and space and how they conduct their operations,” Tyagi said.

Meanwhile, the IAF is soon to be armed with Phalcon airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, advanced beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missiles, “loitering” cruise missiles, and “identify friend or foe (IFF)” techniques critical to modern air warfare.

The IAF is also looking to the US for a walkthrough on how these advanced technologies can be best combined to give fighter pilots and missile commanders the shortest possible detection and reaction time in scoring kills.

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