Experience of Chinese Air Force is very sketchy: former IAF chief BS Dhanoa

New Delhi: – Conflict may be sparked between India and China in the Ladakh airspace. But the capabilities of the Chinese Air Force have not been tested in any war till date. Former Chief of Indian Air Force BS Dhanoa said that the capabilities of the Chinese Air Force are of an experimental nature. In other words, the former air force chief is warning that the Chinese Air Force will not be able to face the Indian Air Force. Some analysts, which include responsible western analysts, have also pointed this out in the past.

The Indian Air Force is in a powerful position on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. The air force has also augmented its capacity in this region very rapidly, and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria had declared that the Indian Air Force is dominating the LAC region in Ladakh. Former Air Force Chief Dhanoa also said that China might face a problem with supplies and essential items in the Ladakh airspace. Moreover, the former air force chief also pointed to the stark reality that the Chinese Air Force does not have war experience.

China had carried out airstrikes during the Korean War decades ago. After that, the Chinese Air Force does not have any war experience. Therefore, the capabilities of the Chinese Air Force have remained on the practical level. Dhanoa clarified that they have not been tested and evaluated. Saying that elephants have separate teeth to show and to chew, he retorted that the Chinese might is an empty talk.

China is trying to exert pressure by creating a war situation on the Ladakh border. The former air force chief inferred that China would not attempt anything further. On paper, the Chinese Air Force is superior to the Indian Air Force. Saying that in a war scenario, the situation will be different as many factors come into play, the former air force chief said that India would prove superior in the actual war scenario. At the same time, Dhanoa reminded that the Chinese airbases in the LAC region are far apart. Some bases have a distance of 400 kilometres between them, whereas the Indian bases are a mere 100 kilometres from each other.

Chinese military strategies are a few decades old, and there is a Russian influence in these strategies. Dhanoa pointed out that there is more stress on rockets and artillery in these strategies. Meanwhile, Dhanoa dismissed the claims made by China in the past regarding its air force might.