The appointment of Air Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt who is highly decorated and professional officer as a new Air chief is a welcome decision. Never before has our armed forces been subjected to such microscopic views and media trials as is being done today. Under such conditions and circumstances any act by the armed forces that follows procedures and upholds merit will definitely contribute in raising the image of military institutions.
Today our air force lacks the ability in machines to dominate the skies and provide favourable air situation in case of war. Indian air force continues to arm itself to teeth while it talks of normalising the relations with Pakistan. Pakistan’s defence needs have reached an alarming stage. Indian missile programme and growing military might has placed us to seek immediate help in this area. The American restrictions and threat of sanctions and stoppage of military aid stands where it was. Addition of few modified F-16s in the fleet is not sufficient to counter Indian threat. The defence forces are like a jaw whose all teeth should be sharp enough to bite, few weak teeth’s in the jaw would leave the bite weak and meaningless. Our Prime Minister must not deal the issue of acquiring offensive capability as something light. Pakistan must focus on building up regional alliances and must enter in to defence agreements with the important countries in the region.
All in all, the Air Chief has a challenging time ahead. What happened on 2 May 2011 is a sad chapter of our history when US helicopters violated our air space and got away with it. The ex-Air Chief admitted surveillance failure due to radars being inactive. This has been a big blow to our custodians of air space. If we lacked the capability to intercept in the past, we must acquire it now as we are in war like conditions and nation is not prepared to accept action replay.
Maintaining an efficient and effective air force today is an expensive business for any country, especially like ours which is under immense foreign and domestic debt. Maintaining an air force which can match our adversary who is constantly increasing their defence potential and arming themselves with lethal technology of missiles capable of delivering conventional and nuclear warheads is a threat which has to be taken seriously and countered effectively. The nation looks up to the new chief to meet its aspirations of keeping our blue skies from any intrusion and ensure the flag of force flying high.
With the country undergoing an economic crisis forcing the defence budget to take downward plunge, the new Air Chief shall have to extract more funds from the government to turn the air force into an excellent fighting force. Modernisation of the fleet, having access to early warning system technologies and quick response capabilities to effectively counter and deter any enemy moves in our space, and for that matter to launch counter-offensives, are matters that warrant the highest priority.
The time has come to seriously consider the requirements of our air force. New avenues should be explored for acquiring modern defence armament from friendly counties that can effectively deter foreign aggression and maintain dominance over our skies. We should stop relying any more on America alone who has subjected the availability of supplies conditional to their conditions related to our nuclear programme.
The nation is looking up to the new Air Chief who takes over on 18 March to lead the country’s air force in these difficult times. Hopefully, he will come up to the expectations of the nation.
