IAF Boosts Air Power: 6 AWACS & 12 Mid-Air Refuellers to Sharpen Strike Capabilities
Indian Air Force ramps up aerial dominance with acquisition of 6 AWACS and 12 mid-air refuellers, boosting surveillance and strike capabilities for long-range missions.
The ministry of defence is set to take up a proposal for acquisition of six more Embraer aircraft from Brazil for conversion to Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) using DRDO developed Netra Mark 1A mounted AESA radars in a move aimed at plugging key capability gaps and building conventional deterrence, people familiar with the matter said.
The proposal will be brought before the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh shortly, they added, asking not to be named.
In addition, while the government has approved wet lease of one KC-135 mid-air refueller from US-based Metrea military contractor, it has also pressed the pedal on the acquisition of six more mid-air refuellers on the basis of an RFP floated by the acquisition wing of the Defence Ministry. India at present has six Russian refuellers.
The urgent need for AEW&C aircraft was felt because the Pakistan air force has eight SAAB-2000 aircraft fitted with the Erieye radar system plus four Chinese ZDK-03 aircraft used for electronic warfare and electronic support measures. PAF also has three Dassault Falcon DA-20 aircraft, which are being used for electronic warfare. After Operation Sindoor, Pakistan has seven SAAB-2000 Erieye AEW&C aircraft, as one was shot down by the Indian S-400 air defence system from a distance of 314 kilometres during the four-day high-intensity skirmish. The AEW & C aircraft is used to look into enemy territory from a distance of as much as 350 km away to identify incoming enemy aerial platforms as well as artillery firing from across the border.
Pakistan also has four Russian refuellers of the same IL-78 M variety as India.
After the military chiefs and national security planners met to discuss learnings from Operation Sindoor on June 7, 2025, a consensus has emerged that India needs to build better and more lethal capabilities, as Pakistan will acquire more capabilities from China . China is providing Yuan-class diesel submarines, frigates and armed drones to Pakistan, while Turkey is building corvettes, upgrading Augusta 90B submarines and providing spare parts for F-16 aircraft for the Islamic nation.
In this context, the Indian military is also getting the weapons recovered from the skirmish, namely Chinese made PL-15 air to air missile, Fatah rockets and Turkish built YIHA drone reviewed by top Indian technology experts. India is now the only country that has war data on Chinese weapon systems like J-10, JF-17 fighters, HQ-9 air defence systems, SH-15 howitzers as well as performance of its own Rafale fighters in live conditions.
India’s post-Sindoor Indian assessment , HT learns, does not rule out a mass casualty attack from Pakistan-based jihadist groups in the future, with the Pakistan military better prepared next time to meet the expected Indian response to terror.
Between the launch of the operation in the early hours of May 7 and the ceasefire on the evening of May 10, Indian forces bombed nine terror camps in Pakistan and PoK and killed at least 100 terrorists. The Indian Air Force also struck targets at 13 Pakistani airbases and military installations.
On Tuesday, it emerged that India’s targeting of locations within Pakistan during the May 7–10 clash was more extensive than previously known, with a Pakistani document acknowledging that Indian drones had struck locations ranging from Peshawar in the northwest to Hyderabad in the south.
Pakistan’s Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, which was mounted in response to Operation Sindoor, “folded in eight hours” on May 10, belying Islamabad’s ambitious target of bringing India to its knees in 48 hours, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday.
Operation Sindoor was India’s military response to the terror strikes at Pahalgam that killed 26 people.
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