Report by Mayank Singh for The New Indian Express

Forty-two combat squadrons may not be enough to handle the likely two-front war, given the rapid technological changes and the increasing number of platforms being added to the military services of both China and Pakistan, sources in the Indian Air Force (IAF) said on Sunday.

With the pressure of future two-front war scenarios, major discussions are underway regarding the evaluation and accretion of the capabilities and re-orbatting the force.

“42 Combat Squadrons may not be able to meet the requirement to handle the two-front wars with the way technology is changing fast in conjunction with the number of platforms being added into the services of both China and Pakistan”, affirmed the sources in the know of the things.

A two-front war is in the context of the anticipated need for simultaneous deployment against the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) and Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Re-orbatting here refers to the reorganising and redeploying of the existing troops and equipment to meet the requirements of the new tactical and strategic requirement. Accretion is being planned towards adding new capabilities and weapons and equipment, the sources said.

The Chinese have already started working on their Sixth Generation fighter, post the induction of fifth generation fighters operationalised in the PLAAF. In June, the Pakistan government had talked about inducting 40 J-35 fifth-generation fighter jets.

India is nearly a decade away from inducting its first fifth generation combat jets.

The generation of an aircraft gets defined by onboard technology, weaponry, avionics, speed and stealth. The increase in generation numbers signifies a leap in the previous design, which was unable to retrofit modern technology, thus requiring a new airframe.

In its over 80 years of history, the IAF has seen recommendations for a major increase in the force levels recommended only twice. Post the China war of 1962, the JRD Tata Committee had recommended 50 Combat Squadrons, which was scaled down to 35 due to financial constraints.

The second scaling up of the sanctioned Combat Strength came in 2012 when 42 was marked as the sanctioned combat strength to meet the challenges, including two-front war scenarios. A squadron in the air force comprises 16–18 aircraft.

“Going by the present and future requirements, these combat squadrons would require a rise of above 50 in numbers”, another source said.

On the Force Level, the Standing Committee on Defence in December 2024 pointed to rapid depletion in future. “Though we are talking about increasing its strength, the authorised strength of the IAF is 42 fighter squadrons and currently it has only 31,” the report said.