IAF strength one-third of China’s : Naik

NEW DELHI: Air Chief Marshal P V Naik on Wednesday painted a grim picture of IAF���s fighter fleet, maintaining that it was a third of China���s strength, and inadequate . ���Our present aircraft strength is inadequate. We have onethird of the Chinese numbers. And that is why we are going for more,��� Air Chief Marshal Naik told newspersons at the Gandhinagar-based South Western Air Command (SWAC) headquarters.

The IAF chief said ���the government is giving full support as far as the acquisition of these things are concerned in terms of finance or otherwise. But everything takes time��� . ���So, whatever contracts that have been signed or will be signed, we would get delivery after three years,��� he said, adding they were aware of the situation and were keen on increasing aircraft numbers.

The IAF chief is the latest in the growing number of top-ranking armed forces officials to paint an alarmist picture of India���s military capabilities vis-a-vis China. Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who retired as Navy chief on August 31, had on August 11 confirmed what many had feared all along, but shied away from admitting: India was no match for China and there was no way New Delhi could bridge the yawning gap in its capabilities against China. He had also remarked that it would be foolhardy to compare the two nations as equals.

His remarks come barely two months after former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major referred to China as ���a greater threat to India than Pakistan as little was known about the communist nation���s combat capabilities��� . The IAF chief felt that IAF���s strength would be augmented with the acquisition of 126 fighter aircraft.