HOW MANY RAFALES DOWN?

 How many Rafales down? The question is now playing like a stuck record and reminds one of the song, “Who let the dogs out?” Rafales are aerial platforms which are state of the art systems and are meant to be utilised in case of hostilities. OP SINDOOR is a military operation where India and Pak have dug into their respective inventories to inflict damage on the adversary. The Operation is currently paused, as declared by the Govt of India. There have been claims that India has lost some aircrafts in this four day skirmish. Although the question when posed to Air Marshal Bharti on 10th May during the debriefing itself, he did respond tongue in cheek that in any such military offensive action there are bound to be losses, but the pilots are safe. The CDS Gen Chauhan too responded to a similar query recently in Singapore, mentioning that it is not important as to how many went down, what was remarkable was to drive the lessons home and execute operations immediately after that. It is obvious that some aircrafts were forced out of action, else the rebuttal would have been a categorical denial of the claims by the adversary. In the same breath, it is worth pondering over that the Pak claim of six aircrafts going down that too at least four of them in Punjab and Rajasthan could not be substantiated by a single incontrovertible evidence, as there were no debris traced anywhere. In this age of social media, where as there were plenty of shots which emerged from across the border where we had targeted their air bases and terrorist organisational headquarters.

Aircrafts are  highly complex platforms and these could be plagued by technical snags even mid flight, which though highly undesirable and improbable but can’t be ruled out. But the exact numbers and the reasons thereof can always be thrashed out once the Operation is formally called off. As of now why this clamour to know the exact numbers is really not understood. In the fog of war, casualties both of men and material are never made public while the Operation is on. Reminded of one of the lines  of the song “Gambler” by Kenny Rogers, “there will be time enough for counting when the dealings done..”.

Adversaries would be keen to know as it effects them directly, if the aircraft did go down due to technical reasons alone, it implies that their weapon systems failed to deliver. But if the Rafale or any other platform did go down due to PL-15 then it is a cause for concern which would have been taken note of by the authorities. Warfare is not just simply kinetic in nature, but a lot of other factors are at play as well. One important dimension of warfare these days is Information Warfare, where Perception Management happens to be a major pillar. Things cannot be hidden for long and ultimately the truth will emerge, so by withholding the information  we have provided an opportunity to the adversary to propagate its own propaganda. Perceptions once formed tend to crystallise and even facts to the contrary are deemed as suspect and a cover up.  The nations who are arms exporters too have their own vested interests. This was the first occasion when Chinese systems  were tested in the battlefield and global powers were awaiting the verdict with baited breath.As was evident, on the very next day when Dassault, the French makers of Rafale  shares took a hit and the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation got a boost, but that was short lived as facts started to emerge and the share market did the necessary course corrections.

The opposition has every right to hold the government of the day accountable but there is a time and place for it. Government too needs to rein in its spokespersons and refrain from drawing political mileage, which in any case will benefit them. Even if the claims by the adversary turn out to be true, the opposition would have been well versed to seek the answers to their query in confidence rather than through the media. Pursuing this course is pure politicking, aim being to neutralise any gains which the ruling dispensation may have gained due to the success of the operation. We need to be on our guard, as situation is still tense. Matters of national security should not be trivialised, so hold your horses folks, you will get your chance at the appropriate time.