India, April 17 -- Apart from being a well-respected military analyst and reporter, Vishnu Som is an unabashed military aviation enthusiast, who has emerged, over the decades, as one of the most informed aviation journalists in India. More importantly, he has tracked the growth of the Indian Air Force closely in the current century and has been able to evaluate its operational capabilities and fault lines accurately. Having flown almost all the frontline aircraft in the IAF's inventory and several contemporary western platforms, he understands the complexities of military aviation and the pulse of the men and women who operate and sustain these complex machines. With such a background, there could have been no one more qualified to tell t...