New Delhi, Sep 13 (UNI) The Congress on Thursday refuted the claim by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that reducing the requirement of 126 fighter aircraft to 36 was because the Indian Air force did not have the infrastructure to fly 126 Fighter aircrafts.
Talking to reporters here, AICC media incharge Randeep Surjewala, responding to the comments by the Defence Minister in an interview to an English daily, said, 'claim of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that IAF does not have the infrastructure i.e parking place, maintenance facility to fly 126 Fighter aircrafts is preposterous and goes against the grain of National Security requirements.
Does the Defence Minister even know that there is a sanctioned strength of 42 air squadrons for IAF. IAF has maintained upto 37/38 squadrons of fighter aircrafts in the past. The current number of air squadrons is 33, which are likely to fall to 31 by 2021. Considering that Rafale aircrafts will not be delivered till the year 2022, there will be available existing space for 7 more squadrons’i.e 18X7 = 126 aircrafts. The Defence Minister is caught lying again IAF had given its requirement of 126 aircrafts, based on which UPA-Congress had floated the tender. PM Modi’s decision to arbitrarily reduce requirement of 126 fighter aircraft to 36 is unexplainable.'
Questioning the statement by the Defence Minister, Mr Surjewala said, 'Defence Minister’s argument is obnoxious on two more counts :- Can Government of India and IAF not create parking space/maintenance facility in 6-8 years period during which the aircrafts will be delivered? Can creation of parking space/maintenance facility be a ground for compromising Air Superiority and National Security?'
'Defence Minister is also guilty of not disclosing the fact that the mandatory ‘Fast Track Procedure’ for affecting ‘Emergency Purchase’ was never followed by PM Modi at the time of announcement of purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts on April 10, 2015. She has also failed to point out that no such ‘Emergency Purchase’ was approved either by the then Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar or Cabinet Committee on Security. How does she now explain the fact that despite the ‘Emergency Purchase’ in April 2015, aircrafts will not be delivered upto the year 2022 and that also without ‘India Specific Enhancements’?,'Mr Surjewala asked.
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