India, Oct. 15 -- Outgoing Air Chief Marshal Amarpreet Singh in his last media interaction raised red flags over declining fighter force levels and called for the induction of two squadrons (36 aircraft) of fighters each year to maintain the Indian Air Force (IAF)'s might over its regional rivals.

The chief hinted that fighter force levels were going down to 30 squadrons even though the Chief of Staff Committee (COSC) had mandated the strength to be 42 squadrons. What the chief is saying has merits. But there remains another question: what will a manned Indian fighter do against Chinese PL 17 beyond visual range air-to-air missiles with a range touching around 400 km or air defence systems like S-400, which take out the fighter at the ra...