by Vivek Ahuja
But one section of the airbase was removed from the chaos of these operations. Amidst a bunch of high-tech trailers at the end of the airbase covered with camouflage nettings, were a group of men whose job demanded discretion. Their unmanned aircraft were deployed near to the trailers and were put in small protective shelters. An acute observer at the airbase might have noticed that one of those shelters was wide empty tonight.
The person wearing a green flight overall put down the phone in one of the trailers and walked up behind the other two sitting in their seats and staring intently at several small digital screens in front of them. One of these men had his right hand sitting on a small black joystick hard-fitted into the console. He deftly piloted the unmanned aircraft from his seat inside this trailer. His partner on this mission sat next to him, staring into a screen of his own but with a different view. This latter person was the operator for the drone’s electro-optical systems that scanned the terrain below. It was this screen that the two other men in the room wearing similar green flight-suits were interested in.
“That guy must have wiped out half of the village in that first run,” the EO operator noted to the two senior men. One of the two men, with a balding head bordered with thinning white hair, leaned forward at the screen and then nodded in agreement:
“Indeed! An absolute lunatic. He might have killed some of his own people in there. Not a good sign of FAC coordination.”
The EO operator switched the view from visual to thermal. Now the screen showed the black and white live-feed video. The screen was showing the struggle of the TI data computer to resolve and correct for the fluctuations in light as white color fireballs raced into the sky and then turned black again in seconds.
Three hundred kilometers away and ten thousand feet above them, a Heron unmanned aircraft was silently flying over south-eastern Tibet with its eyes pointed downwards as part of a covert intelligence gathering mission. Part of this mission tasking involved collecting intelligence on PLA dispositions that would later end up in the hands of Lieutenant-Colonel Gephel and his team on the ground below. It was no mistake that they were over the same terrain where Gephel and his team had been expected to meet up with local Tibetan informants before the PLA battalions had ruined that party. So now the high endurance aircraft was orbiting over the village of Shiquanhe, observing from above what Gephel and his team had seen firsthand. But while the latter were now escaping to the north on foot, the Heron crew at Leh was recording on their cameras the devastating J-10 strike against the village outskirts that had left dozens of buildings destroyed or on fire.
The skies were getting crowded and they had just received word from their contacts within Military Intelligence that Chinese airborne radars had been detected on their way south towards the border. With a powerful Chinese airborne radar aircraft entering the skies, and enemy fighters approaching, it was time to leave.
The Heron pilot inside the trailer at Leh now pushed the joystick slightly to the right while his eyes remained fixed to the HUD display in front of him. On this display he was essentially seeing what the Heron was seeing. The Heron was quick to respond to the remote pilot commands and it banked to the right before initiating a southern turn. The view on the remote pilot’s optics confirmed the same.
As the Heron initiated its escape, two hundred kilometers to the north four Chinese Su-27s tore through the skies on their way south...
AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
TIBET
MAY 15, 2028 HRS
Ten thousand feet above the snow clad mountains of Tibet, and three hundred and fifty kilometers away from its Indian counterpart, a ‘red’ IL-76 based AWACS, the KJ-2000, tore through the cold rarefied air on its way south. Its dorsal mounted airborne radar was fully active, and inside the aircraft fifteen PLAAF officers awaited the first contacts to appear on their screens. It didn’t take long. The lone J-10 near the border with India was soon picked up on active systems, though the passive ones suggested that there were Indian aircraft also in the skies further south, most notably the Phalcon AWACS. The small airframe of the escaping Heron UAV was not picked up at this range, however. The Chinese commander on board rubbed his eyes as he walked over to the lead radar officer. Contact was imminent now...
AIRSPACE OVER LADAKH
INDIA
MAY 15, 2030 HRS
The three Indian Mig-29 Fulcrum fighters under the command of Squadron-Leader Khurana were flying just over the peaks as they dashed to the southeast to barricade the lone Chinese J-10 just over the border. Rough geographical features and the curving nature of the horizon prevented their detection by enemy radar. But that was about to change. They were approaching the border now, and it was time to show themselves to the other side...
“Okay boys, time to look sharp. Weapons tight. Follow me in,” Khurana spoke to the other two pilots over the radio before gently pulling back on the control stick. The aircraft nosed up and lifted effortlessly into the higher air, and almost immediately the threat picture lit up.
The on-board Radar-Warning-Receiver or RWR bleeped an audio warning into the ears of the three pilots as the emissions from the Chinese AWACS saturated the skies. Khurana looked instinctively to his left to see the threat far to the north, but of course the skies were as dark as ever with only stars above and the rocky peaks below.
He knew this was deceptive. There were Su-27s out there somewhere, potentially flanking his flight of three. But his job was to keep his eyes peeled for the single J-10 doing mud-moving work in the hills to the east and leave the Su-27 threat for the Indian Su-30MKIs also sharing the skies with him over Ladakh.
As for that J-10, the Phalcon had lost contact when the Chinese pilot had gone low within the hills. But he would be poking his nose out of the hills after completing his strike and it was Khurana’s job to ensure that this happened on the Chinese side and not on the Indian one...
AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
TIBET
MAY 15, 2032 HRS
The three Indian Fulcrums were now in full view of the Chinese KJ-2000, and the Su-27s were vectored to engage. The PLAAF Commander on board the radar aircraft was Senior-Colonel Len Feng. He was the chief operations officer of the PLAAF units in the Lanzhou Military Region that bordered India along Ladakh and south-western Tibet. In this capacity he reported directly to the commander of the PLAAF Lanzhou Military Area Command, Lieutenant-General Duan Chen.
This was China’s first real deployment of their AWACS aircraft in a potentially hostile aerial situation and so he was here to see the effectiveness and potential drawbacks of their new airborne-radar aircraft. Lieutenant-General Chen had convinced General Jinping, the commander of the PLAAF to release to him the use of the 26TH Air Division, which controlled all of the Chinese airborne-radar, command and control and special mission aircraft. This precious unit had subordinate to it the 76TH Airborne Command and Control Regiment (ACCR) that fielded the brand new KJ-2000 AWACS, the turboprop engine KJ-200 AEW aircraft and other special Electronic Warfare (EW) aircraft.
Upon release to Chen, the 26TH Airborne Division HQ had deployed to Korla airbase in northern Tibet. This airbase was deep enough inside China that no enemy action was expected. But it was close enough to the Tibetan border to allow a pair of KJ-2000s to rotate on a continuous basis and cover the Ladakh sector with their radars. This allowed Chen to maintain the required coverage needed to keep the Indians at bay. But there were other sectors needing coverage too, especially in southern Tibet near Lhasa and Shigatse and further east in south-central China. So the 76TH ACCR had units spread out in detachments all over. But there were not enough aircraft to go around. In this aspect the Chinese faced the same limitations as their Indian enemies. The KJ-2000s were potent weapons but only a handful of them were available. Same went for the KJ-200s. So, in those sectors needing higher level of protection or facing greater threat from the Indians, the coverage was provided by a pair of KJ-2000s. Other sectors were being covered with the lowe
r capability KJ-200s in conjunction with ground based radars.
To further complicate matters for Chen and Feng, General Jinping had refused to merge the Air-Force regions in Lanzhou and Chengdu into a single unified region despite efforts by Chen and the Deputy-Commander of the PLAAF, Colonel-General Wencang. To current and former field commanders such as Chen and Wencang, administrative and bureaucratic limitations affecting streamlined operations were unacceptable. But at the Junwei-Kong-Jun, the PLAAF Headquarters in Beijing, the picture seen was very different. India was only an irritant to be handled with contempt and no major restructuring of military-regions was to be looked at. In doing so, Jinping was towing the party line in Beijing. But out over the Tibetan Plateau, it meant that the Lanzhou and Chengdu assigned Air-Force units were still conducting operations with very little coordination except for few occasions such as the distribution of the 26TH Air Division assets between them.
To further complicate matters for Chen and Feng, there was serious pressure on the PLAAF field commanders from Beijing to re-assert aerial supremacy over a region dominated by Indian advantages in geography, assets and technology. A greater concentration of an otherwise smaller force near the area of operations gave the Indians a level of superiority more virtual than real. It had a lot to do with the density of air operations rather than absolute numbers. The latter being the PLAAF’s strong point on paper.
To counter-balance this, Chen had surged forward elements of the 6TH Fighter Division and its Su-27UBK heavy fighters to Kashgar, an otherwise semi-permanent PLAAF airbase. But there was also a detachment of the 44TH Fighter Division operating under Chengdu region at Kashgar now, based there for proximity to the southwestern Tibet area. This mix and match of units were proving to a nightmare for Feng and his operations staff, and were likely to cause real problems in the future unless unified under a single commander.
Feng shook his head and blinked his eyes to pull himself out of his thoughts as the squawking of radio chatter broke his reverie.
Focus…
Tonight would be interesting. The Indians had become very aggressive over the last month in response to the Chinese air-strikes against Tibetan rebels moving back and forth near the border regions with India. A couple of times it had even proven scary, Feng thought.
But only because we were unprepared.
That changes tonight…
He was under clear cut orders from Chen to be aggressive now. However, the problem wasn’t his aggressiveness, but that of his men. Aggressiveness without discipline can lead to mistakes. And mistakes can lead to war. He was worried about his pilots. They had been taught to listen and obey, not to think: a result of the doctrinal inertia of the old PLAAF from the cold war days that had only recently begun to change to allow more flexible operations. The thing about flexible operations was that it required the Chinese commanders and political officers to release greater control on their airmen during combat. Something the communist party was very loath to do when it concerned their country’s guard dogs. Men such as Feng were from a new breed, having risen under the tutelage of visionary commanders such as Generals Chen and Wencang. The problem was that despite the small cadre of senior officers like themselves, the vast majority of the PLAAF was still very much stuck in a different mindset. And that mindset had never been tested in war. Add to that the political interference of installing Generals such as Jinping to the highest offices of the Air-Force only helped keep the lid on the radical changes that men such as Wencang could usher in. But Wencang could not rise above the position he currently occupied for the same reason that Jinping could: political affiliations. The latter had a lot of them and was considered utterly loyal to the Chinese communist party in Beijing. He was also a close relative of the former Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) in Beijing, the supreme Chinese military HQ and decision making body.
In the meantime, we must do what we can at the lower levels… Feng thought as he looked over the shoulder of the Major commanding the radar operations on board the KJ-2000.
For all that, Feng was relatively satisfied with his preparations tonight. He smiled inwardly as his hand reached the zipped chest pocket of his flight-suit for his cigarette and then put the thought away. He had developed a bad habit for it when he was on the ground, commanding operations far behind the potential frontlines. But that was on the ground where he could simply walk out of the center and into his personal office for a smoke. But not inside this aircraft and in the air.
Of course not. What am I thinking…he thought bemusedly. It felt nice to be inside a flight-suit. It had been far too long since his last joyride on a Su-27. But as he ran his hand over his balding white hair, he realized it was a young man’s job and he had gotten old.
And supposedly wise? Well, these men and their lives depend on me, so let’s hope so…he replied to his inner voice.
We shall see, won’t we?
It was because of the delicate nature of operations against the Indians that he had personally chosen the pilots of the Su-27s. These men were known to be quick thinkers and experienced to the core. And while their independence of thought caused them to be viewed suspiciously by the country they served, they were actually well liked by the core of the PLAAF who saw them as the future. With such men Feng was sure that he could be aggressive and yet prevent mistakes. And tonight would be a real test of their skill…
The PLA had gotten itself into a mess around the village of Shiquanhe for the past day and were having a rough time. As a result, Feng’s carefully choreographed plan had been trashed when the first bomb laden J-10 took off from Kashgar airbase without his permission. In fact, he had been notified about the strike only after it had actually taken off the ground. Something that he had discovered after an angry outburst from Chen caused the operations staff at the Chengdu region command to open up about their ongoing operations in that sector. It was, in all honesty, an administrative and operational screw-up. So Feng had been forced to launch his operation to provide airborne cover haphazardly. He had boarded the KJ-2000 at Korla minutes before it had departed for a flight over the Taklimakan desert on its way south. The Su-27 detachment from the 16TH Air Regiment of the 6TH Fighter Division had scrambled shortly thereafter behind the lumbering airborne-radar aircraft…
“We are detecting Indian fighters over Ladakh,” the Major reported calmly to Feng after lowering his comms mouthpiece with one hand.
“Looks like they are posturing,” Feng said as he looked over the radar data on a geographical overlay on one of the computer screens.
Beijing wanted aggressive, so let’s give them aggressive...
“Order the SU-27s to activate their radars.” Feng ordered.
AIRSPACE OVER LADAKH
INDIA
MAY 15, 2040 HRS
“Active radar signatures! We are being painted!” Khurana’s wingman shouted over the radio as a screeching noise from the RWR filled his ears.
“Must be those Su-27s. Hold it together people: they are testing us!” Khurana shouted back before switching the comms frequencies:
“Eagle-Eye-One, this is Claw-One. We are being painted by commie fighters to our north. Request permission to return favor, over.”
“Roger. November-two-four is climbing out of the muck. Light up the bugger. Over.” Khurana smiled underneath his oxygen mask and changed frequencies once again back to his pilots:
“Claw-One to all Claw elements. November-two-four is climbing to meet us. Time to light up the sky…”
AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
TIBET
MAY 15, 2044 HRS
The three fulcrum radars activated nearly simultaneously, but were looking eastwards and not back at the Su-27s to the north. A dozen kilometers east of the LAC, the lone J-10 was now climbing out of the hills to head home. The pilot inside the aircraft was still inspecting the fuel gauge and wondering if he would need to refuel with a tanker along the way. As he cleared the peaks, his worries instantly changed. His
threat board lit up immediately to show the southern skies swarming with Indian Sukhois and a single Phalcon. To his east there were three Indian contacts activating their missile guidance radars...
AIRSPACE OVER LADAKH
INDIA
MAY 15, 2050 HRS
“Missile launch! Missile launch! November-two-four has pickled off his radar guided missiles!” Khurana’s wingman shouted over the radio frequencies before Khurana’s voice overrode it:
“Oh shit! The bugger has engaged! All Claw elements: Break! Break! Break!”
The three Fulcrums immediately dived out of the sky and broke formation. They also dropped chaff as they headed face down into the hills below to force the two inbound PJ-12 missiles to break radar contact. There were three fighters and two missiles. One of the three was therefore already out of danger. The pilot of that Fulcrum was the first one to dive and level out just above the peaks of Ladakh before engaging afterburners and heading north. He was already switching to his long-range R-77 missiles while his aircraft accelerated. A few seconds later he flipped the control stick to the right and headed into banking climb to the northeast. This maneuver brought him facing the evading J-10 and his threat board lit up. The lone Chinese J-10 was now acquired on radar as it escaped to the northeast, low on fuel. A few seconds and he would fall within the range of the armed R-77 hanging from the left wing of Claw-Three...
AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
TIBET
MAY 15, 2051 HRS
Come on, come on...
Okay, that peak looks good enough. Time to punch off another barrage...
The rocky peak swept by a moment later and Khurana flipped the control stick to the right even as he released another round of chaff behind his aircraft. He then pulled back on the stick and the aircraft swept around the top half of the peak and streaked back towards the eastern border. The PJ-12 missile however continued towards the cloud of chaff he had left in his wake and detonated in a small fireball that illuminated the darkened cockpit of the fulcrum a second later. Khurana’s night-vision view disappeared under the flash of the explosion behind and he pulled up instinctively to gain altitude while his vision restored. In a few seconds he was above the peaks and the aircraft was soaring into the cold skies above…