Editorial: Time to retire Jaguars from IAF fleet

Four crashes this year involving the ageing Jaguar — claiming three lives — have raised questions over their safety

Persisting with the ageing, outdated aircraft has been the bane of the Indian Air Force (IAF). This has put the lives of young pilots at risk. First, it was the Soviet-era MiG-21 aircraft, often dubbed as ‘flying coffins’, and now the Anglo-French twin-engine Jaguar that was involved in a series of fatal accidents. Four crashes this year involving the ageing Jaguar — claiming three lives — have raised questions over their safety. While MiG aircraft, which caused several tragedies in the past, are being phased out completely by the end of this year, the Jaguars, inducted nearly half a century ago, continue to play a key role in the Indian Air Force’s frontline operations. Two IAF pilots were killed when Jaguar IB, a twin-seat trainer variant, crashed near Churu in Rajasthan last week. Earlier, the same variants were involved in two back-to-back crashes in March and April. The unfailing regularity of the IAF aircraft crashes has become an embarrassing reality. Lack of modern avionics and inherent safety features, along with inadequate training and supervision of pilots as well as technicians, poor maintenance and overhaul practices, and lack of quality control on spares — all lead to the unacceptably high crash rate. The IAF currently operates six squadrons of the Jaguars. Ironically, India is the only air force in the world to still operate them. Britain, Ecuador, France, Oman, and Nigeria had all retired their Jaguar fighters years ago, with some on display in air museums in many of these countries.

The first batch of 40 Jaguars, christened as ‘Shamsher’ (Sword of justice), was delivered to the IAF in fly-away condition 1979 onwards and thereafter another 100-odd were licence-built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) till 2008, through a transfer of technology agreement with SEPECAT, a joint venture between France’s Breguet and the British Aircraft Corporation. However, these aircraft have periodically been involved in over 50 minor and major accidents. The investigations into these mishaps pointed to engine failure, asserting that these jets are long past their expiry date. The performance of Jaguars has significantly deteriorated over time as their engine design is considered outdated by contemporary standards. The IAF continues to operate Jaguars with engines well past their intended design life, involving huge risks. Moreover, the IAF also struggled with sourcing Jaguar spare parts, as both Britain and France had stopped manufacturing the fighters in the early 1980s, and HAL too had ceased building the fighters around 2008. However, in July 2018, the IAF managed to obtain a variety of Jaguar airframes, spares, and sub-assemblies from France, Oman, and the UK to sustain its substantial fleet of this fighter type for a few more years. India should be spending more on innovation, R&D, and bringing in new technology to edge past our enemies, instead of putting the lives of our brave hearts at risk.

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