India, April 11 -- Military aviation is at an inflexion point. Recent wars - Armenia-Azerbaijan, Russia-Ukraine - have revolutionised warfare through the extensive use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and brought into question the relevance of the manned fighter. Elon Musk told a US Air Force Symposium in February 2020, "The fighter jet era has passed." The statement created waves worldwide, but was premature then, and now.

In India, the Indian Air Force's offensive element will remain Delhi's main deterrent weapon and, as a corollary, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), being its main equipper, will remain vitally important. It is imperative that the government doubles down to make HAL deliver to prevent India's air power from losing...