IAF equipment during the 1962 War “cannot be compared to that of China” and it was “not successful” in delivering supplies to beleaguered Indian troops, an official Chinese daily claimed on Sunday, days after IAF Chief N.A.K. Browne said the use of Air Force will have changed the outcome of the conflict.
In the first such write-up ahead of the 50th anniversary of the eight-day war which broke out on October 20, 1962, a commentary in the Chinese edition of Global Times claimed that the combat capability of the IAF was very limited leaving it a “spectator”.
“On the eve of the war the backbone of the IAF in terms of equipment cannot be compared to that of China,” it said, adding the IAF mainly consisted of British WWII Spitfire turboprop aircraft and “second hand” Vampire aircraft.
“The Vampire aircraft had been trounced by the Chinese people’s volunteers as early as the Korean War. As for the 100 MK6 fighter aircraft and 90 Canberra light bombers ordered by India from the UK, they were not yet delivered by the end of 1962,” it said.
“...Indian military did not deploy any combat aircraft in frontline airports at Indian border, and basically sent transport planes to provide supplies to the Army,” it said. “
Owing to a lack of real world experience, the majority of the supplies fell into the gorges and gullies. In many cases, the parachutes did not open and damage was caused to the supplies,” the commentary claimed.