IAF pilots popping pills to 'heighten alertness' | 92NEWS-WORLD

Indian Air Force pilots popping pills to 'heighten alertness'

Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots are increasingly using drugs to heighten alertness and cognitive abilities to optimise performance in combat exercises. Modafinil and Zolpidem, nicknamed ‘Go/No-Go’ pills respectively, are used to first increase adrenaline and wakefulness, then counteract with sedation for recovery until the next mission.The drugs were used across the IAF in Exercise Livewire, a military exercise which simulated a two-front war held from October 31 to November 8 in which all 54 IAF airbases were activated."It was a high-tempo exercise to simulate a war, which requires high adrenaline levels and the ability to push the envelope,” 

Handling highly stressful situations becomes more difficult when sleep-deprivation and fatigue come into play, and can negatively affect decision-making ability. After the adrenaline-rush of the Go Pill, the No-Go Pill is used to offset its effect in order to rest before the next mission.

According to the senior IAF officer, “The Go/No-Go pills are being used to optimise performance only after extensive clinical trials, both in simulators and actual flying, with all necessary safeguards. For another, side-effects of both the pills during trials were negligible and did not appear to be a cause for concern.”

"The field trials and studies were conducted by our doctors to validate pharmacological strategies for sleep and alertness management for aircrews in extended operations. It was established both Modafinil and Zolpidem would help to optimise our personnel's performance in a sustained operational scenario," he said.

Using performance enhancing drugs in the armed forces is not new. Amphetamines and other stimulants, along with sedative and sleeping aids, are widely used in modern armies since at least World War II.

Female top guns: Indian airforce to induct women fighter pilots

The Indian government gave its nod on Saturday for women to fly fighter jets, paving the way for them to assume combat roles for the first time in one of the world's largest militaries.

The federal defence ministry gave the green light to a proposal for recruiting female fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF), where women already fly transport aircraft and helicopters.

“With this decision to open up induction of women in the fighter stream, women have become eligible for induction in all branches and streams of the IAF,” a defence ministry statement published on Saturday said.

“This progressive step is in keeping with the aspirations of Indian women and is in line with contemporary trends in Armed Forces of developed nations, “it said, adding that after training, selected women “would enter a fighter cockpit by June 2017”.

The latest move not only marks the maiden entry of women in combat roles not only in the IAF but in any branch across the Indian armed forces.

But India has kept them out of such roles, reportedly fearing women would be more vulnerable to sexual attacks, and worries over lodging and physical fitness.

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha expressed his reluctance to change tack last year when he said “women are by nature not physically suited for flying fighters for long hours”.

Since then, increasing numbers of female officers have brought court cases demanding better work conditions and permanent commissions instead of temporary terms of five to ten years.

“Once finalised more and more branches would be opened up for induction of women to give them the space which they deserve in the Armed Forces of the country,” it said.

Women form some five per cent of around 1.32 million active personnel and 2.14 million reservists in the defence forces, according to government figures.

Modi pushes 'obsolete' made-in-India plane on reluctant military

India's government has turned down its military's request to expand the acquisition of 36 fighter planes from Dassault Aviation SA to plug vital gaps, officials said, nudging it to accept an indigenous combat plane 32 years in the making.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision, in line with his Make-in-India policy to encourage domestic industry, is a blow for not only the French manufacturer but also others circling over the Indian military aviation market worth billions of dollars.

The push for India's struggling Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) also comes at a time when the Indian Air Force (IAF) is at its weakest operational strength since the 1962 war against China, which is causing anxiety within military circles.

Since it took over last year, the Modi administration has repeatedly said its overriding goal is to cut off the military's addiction to foreign arms which has made it the world's top importer.

The air force wanted the government to clear an additional 44 Rafale medium multirole aircraft on top of the 36 that Modi announced during a visit to Paris this year that are to be bought off-the-shelf to meet its urgent requirements.

But a defense ministry official said that Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar had told the Indian air force that there weren't enough funds to expand the Rafale acquisition and that it must induct an improved version of the indigenous Tejas-Mark 1A.

"The IAF (air force) needs to have a minimum number of aircraft at all times. The LCA is our best option at this stage, given our resource constraints," the defense official said.

"The Rafale is our most expensive acquisition. The LCA is our cheapest in the combat category."

India's air force says its requires 45 fighter squadrons to counter a "two-front collusive threat" from Pakistan and China. But it only has 35 active fighter squadrons, parliament's defense committee said in a report in April citing a presentation by a top air force officer.

With the drawdown of Soviet-era MiG 21 planes under way, the air force would be down to 25 squadrons by 2022 at the current pace of acquisitions, it told the committee.

Cleared by the government in 1983, the LCA designed by the government's Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was meant to be the backbone of the air force due for induction in 1994.

Instead, it suffered years of delay and chaos with scientists trying to build the world's most modern light combat aircraft from scratch, including the engine.

Eventually they scrapped the engine, turning to GE Aviation and lowering their ambitions for a state-of-the-art fighter. So far, only one aircraft has been produced and even that is awaiting final operational clearance, now delayed to early 2016.

Safety concerns

An independent investigation by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India into the LCA program identified 53 "shortfalls" in the plane. In a report in May, the auditor said that the plane wasn't as light as promised, the fuel capacity and speed were lower than required and there were concerns about safety.

"It is a very short-range aircraft which has no relevance in today's war fighting scenarios. If you are trying to justify this as a replacement for follow-on Rafales, you are comparing apples with oranges."

He said the plane was at best a technology demonstrator on which Indian engineers could build the next series of aircraft, not something the air force could win a war with.

"We would like to have the MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) variety of aircraft. At least about six squadrons, to my mind," the head of the air force, Arup Raha, said at the weekend, referring to the Rafale class of fighters.

But K. Tamilmani, the DRDO's aerospace chief, said the modified version of the Tejas addressed most of the Indian air force concerns. These included electronic warfare system, flight computer, radar and maintenance problems.

"Almost all the problems get solved with the 1A. There will always be scope for improvement, but there are no flight safety issues," he said.

State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited would be able to ramp production to 16 a year by 2017 to meet the air force's demands, he said.

"We Indians are extremely good at blaming each other - at blaming it all on Indian production."

A source close to Sweden's Saab, which has been pushing its Gripen light fighter, said that it was respectful of India's decision to try to develop its domestic military base.

"There's still a huge gap that needs to be filled. We are marketing it (the Gripen) under the Make-in-India umbrella," he said. "Even if you add the seven squadrons of the Tejas, there is still a requirement (with MiGs retiring etc). It’s a question of timing. Can they build these for when they need them?"