Does India /Pak need Fleet of Strategic Bombers?

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

Bombers are used to bomb enemy’s strategic positions which are far away from air bases. Attack aircrafts can also bomb target, but they are not long range and carry less payload. Thus Bombers are used, as they have long range and also can carry heavy payload. The Defense Ministry’s opinion was that since India’s main rivals Pakistan and China are not far away, so India does not need Long Range Bombers and multirole fighters which are enough for bombing missions.

During earlier times bombers were seen as Strategic Assets by Air Forces but now due to development of Surface-to-Air Missile systems and more powerful Radar Systems , Bombers have moved towards obsolescence. With the development of Ballistic Missile Systems , there has been a little use of bombers now since they have now become prone to countermeasures.

In modern era , the difference between Bombers and Attack Aircraft have blurred and reduced to just Text-Book terms since many Modern Fighter Aircrafts are used to deliver bombs though their role is much different from being “Bomb Trucks”. With the availability of air-to-air refueling their combat range can be extended enough to do deep strike bombing in enemy territory.

India has ability to launch nukes from land and air; soon it will have INS Arihant operational followed by 4 more SSBNs.However India does not have Strategic Bomber/ Long Range Standoff Launcher like US, Russai and China do. (and UK did.)

The role of these Bombers is- travelling over large distances; tiptoeing into the enemy territory; and bombing the shit out of enemy forces. They are stealthy as anything (B-2 Spirit, best example), large (take any of them) and can’t do much to defend against fighter aircraft and SAMs (once detected, they are next to sitting ducks).

Now, coming to why the IAF does not have any bombers. As mentioned above, bombers are suited for heavy bombing over great distances. In our case, we can use the multi role fighter aircraft against our enemies like China and Pakistan. And we have successfully done so in ’71 and Kargil.

Indian Air Force at present has SEPECAT Jaguars in Deep Penetration Strike Roles where it can be used as bombers to drop LGBs ( Laser Guided Bombs ) and Cluster Bombs on Strategic targets. Even Mig-27UPG can be used for similar roles as “Bomb-Trucks” . Mirage 2000 is one of IAF’s option to deliver nuclear bombs inside enemy territory. Su-30MKI uses a lot of specialized weapons like OFAB Bombs and KAB-500/1500 LGBs. The limiting factor for them is the range which can be taken care of by aerial refueling giving them a larger combat radius.

Indian Air Force also uses its AN-32 aircrafts to use as bombers continuing the tradition of its predecessor AN-12 which was used by IAF to bomb Pakistani positions in 1971 War where they did Carpet-Bombing using 500-pounders.

.India doesn’t require Long Range Bombers because our foes are near by. Russia and America use bombers because of the distance between these two foes. The bombers can carry larger payloads to longer distances at slow speed.

Although precision guided cruise/ballastic missiles reduced the requirements of an bomber still there are scenarios where an bomber can be useful.Also if Indian armed forces has to face a big offensice army formation, then bombers are the ultimate solution as they can neutralize a vast area with a single sortie.

In the past Russia offered to sell its bombers but India refused it in wake of its good boy defence policy.

Recently there were some reports which confirm that India wanted to lease backfires which guaranteed supply of spares but Russia insisted on selling.

However the deal has not materialized yet. The Tu-142 is being replaced by the Boeing P-8I Neptune, also an ASW aircraft.

Will a strategic bomber help India? As far as nuclear deterrence goes, matching China’s numbers in strategic bombers and missiles would be an impossible task over the next decade or two. For conventional strategic bombing too, given the territorial vastness of China, the numbers required are mindboggling. However, given the fact that Chinese bombers can reach Indian cities, airports and military installations, the desirability of having strategic bombers capable of holding a similar threat for at least a proportion of Chinese target systems is undebatable.

Question about Whether India needs a strategic bomber. The answer is a definite and loud ‘yes’. India as a nation may want a strategic bomber and the Indian Air Force may need it to be reckoned as an aerospace power of some standing, but can India afford it? The answer, when weighed against the other priorities we have in meeting long-standing military deficiencies, is in the negative.

As for dedicated bombers , India doesn’t operate any for now though it has been developing strategic stealth UAVs like DRDO AURA/Ghatak which can be used for stealthy insertion in enemy territory and striking the enemy with PGMs , LGBs and more. DRDO AURA which will be inducted into service by 2025 according to certain sources.

 

[KapitaanAli]

India doesn't. Pakistan does.

Targets in China are relatively concentrated and the preferable delivery is via missiles. Pakistan will have a way harder time against targets in India which are very homogenous.

But of course, I wanna see us flying something like the White Swan.

 

[Vapnope]

India would need for China and Pakistan for India !

To be fair, Pakistan would need more than India !

 

[bananarepublic]

India doesn't. Pakistan does.

Targets in China are relatively concentrated and the preferable delivery is via missiles. Pakistan will have a way harder time against targets in India which are very homogenous.

But of course, I wanna see us flying something like the White Swan.

For than Pakistan would need a degree of air Superiority in indian territory and for that Pakistan would need an even larger air force rather than using bombers Pakistan would be better of with cruise missle with lesser probability of being shot down by indian air defenses.

 

[GodToons]

India did have bomber fleet with Navy (project Black) which was retired last year. Probably Air force too have bomber fleet.

 

[BetterPakistan]

India doesn't. Pakistan does.

Targets in China are relatively concentrated and the preferable delivery is via missiles. Pakistan will have a way harder time against targets in India which are very homogenous.

But of course, I wanna see us flying something like the White Swan.

Yeah India don't need anything neither better fighter jets than Mig-21 and Mig-27 . Your migs are more than enough to deal with everything BTW Indian migs understand the kind of problem IAF is facing due to them that is why those jets are crashing on their own because those jets know that your air force isn't capable of getting new jets

When the time will come our air force will dismantle your air force like every time our fighter pilots did. PAF Zindabad

 

[KapitaanAli]

When the time will come our air force will dismantle your air force like every time our fighter pilots did. PAF Zindabad

 

[Yaseen1]

I think c130 can be used as bomber if modified

 

[AMCA]

Who knows?? We might already have a squadron or two!!

 

[Papa Dragon]

Yeah India don't need anything neither better fighter jets than Mig-21 and Mig-27 . Your migs are more than enough to deal with everything BTW Indian migs understand the kind of problem IAF is facing due to them that is why those jets are crashing on their own because those jets know that your air force isn't capable of getting new jets

When the time will come our air force will dismantle your air force like every time our fighter pilots did. PAF Zindabad

His logic is on point kid. I know you are young and naive for now and got intense love for your country but don't worry, you will learn a lot on platforms like these.

Just stay away from the trolls and false flaggers and you will grow up to be among some respectable Pakistani members on this forum

 

[Chhatrapati]

When the time will come our air force will dismantle your air force like every time our fighter pilots did. PAF Zindabad

Zero Logic Fanboy alert

 

[xyx007]

With the arrival of cruise missiles, the nature of air power has changed considerably. While aerial deep penetration strikes involves risk to pilots, cruise missiles can lower the risk factor.In Current Warfare Age Bomber are Sitting Ducks In Sky If you want to Send these Bomber they need proper fighter escorts till End.
Just For Bombing Run You Need Complete Air Dominance In that Area . in 65 War Air 2 Air PAF was leading and dominating the Sky was Almost Clear for them , Now Fighters are Not That heavies But they can Get the Job done of few birds in one sortie because modern Weapons are more sophisticated and compact and Way More Agile.Strategic bombers are not needed for paksiatn since we have pretty good Missile delivery vehicles for the Strategic purposes. We improve the range and accuracy of our missiles with Laser Guided. We need to have pretty good military satellites in the skies as our eyes. The JF-17 'MULTI-ROLE FIGHTER AIRCRAFT' is capable of being used as a bomber, with guided (IR, Laser) and unguided (dumb bombs) munition. Not only such bombs, but BVR air-to-ground rockets and BVR air-to-ground bombs

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

We don't need fleet of strategic bombers for nuclear mission,now that SSBNs have arrived.But we should get a squadron of something like the TU-22M blackjack loaded with half a dozen brahmos to counter any PLAN fleet entering IOR in wartime.A small squadron of even 12 such bombers would be able to deliver a salvo of 72 brahmos which would be a massive challenge for any CBG.

 

[Rajesh Singh]

We don't need fleet of strategic bombers for nuclear mission,now that SSBNs have arrived.But we should get a squadron of something like the TU-22M blackjack loaded with half a dozen brahmos to counter any PLAN fleet entering IOR in wartime.A small squadron of even 12 such bombers would be able to deliver a salvo of 72 brahmos which would be a massive challenge for any CBG.

Yes, we need at least one squadron with 16-20 bombers..

 

[jetray]

We don't need fleet of strategic bombers for nuclear mission,now that SSBNs have arrived.But we should get a squadron of something like the TU-22M blackjack loaded with half a dozen brahmos to counter any PLAN fleet entering IOR in wartime.A small squadron of even 12 such bombers would be able to deliver a salvo of 72 brahmos which would be a massive challenge for any CBG.

Kargil certainly proved that we do need bombers. Missiles will be used against high value strategic targets as they are expensive but dumb bombs are more cost effective against massed infantry & installations.