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Sunday, February 10, 2013

Aggressor Squadron - Playing Enemy For Your Pals

Think like the enemy. Act like the enemy. Defeat the enemy.

In the January issue of the Pragati magazine, one of the writers argues the case for the Indian Air Force [IAF] to set up an 'Aggressor Squadron', operating aircrafts, in a manner flown by pilots of adversary nations, as permitted by the flight envelope of their aircraft.

"Ideally this aggressor unit should be manned by highly qualified pilots from the IAF’s flight instructor ranks and it should devote all its time to matching the exact performance of adversary’s platforms. In addition to simulating the enemy pilots airplane performance, the aggressor pilots should endeavor to replicate the mindset of the adversary — capturing key aspects of their motivation and mental biases. It would be advisable for this unit to be led by an Air Vice Marshal with appropriate intelligence experience. Any ancillary personnel from the intelligence community with expertise in enemy psychology should be made to report directly to the head of this unit."

Found the idea quite appealing, although currently no open-source information exists to suggest the IAF is in consideration of such a proposal. One hopes some deliberation on those lines is taking place within the inner circles of IAF planners, which would be made public in due time, hopefully soon. If not, then one must pray, someone in the IAF hierarchy comes across the article, that would trigger the required chain of events. ;)

The US military is one that has essentially pioneered the concept of the 'Aggressor Squadron', with dedicated squadrons flying comparable or actual enemy aircrafts full-time, since the 60s. According to Wikipedia, they currently operate around 7-8 such 'adversary squadron'. One such unit is the USAF's 18th Aggressor Squadron, located at the Eielson AFB. The January 2010 issue of the 'Air Forces Monthly' magazine featured a long & insightful article, detailing the working of the aforementioned squadron, in particular & aggressor squadrons in general. One of the finest articles on the topic.

Godspeed

Related: CNS Admiral Nirmal Verma - Metamorphosis of Matters Maritime: An Indian Perspective