IAF, DRDO wrangle leads to ‘top gun’ exit

Every time he kissed the skies in the made-in-India Tejas at Aero India or elsewhere, Group Captain Suneet Krishna (Retd) had air warriors and aviation enthusiasts alike rooting for more of his heart-stopping manoeuvres.

That was till January 31. On February 1, this top gun walked away to the corporate world at the end of a wrangle between the country’s defence scientists and the Indian Air Force (IAF). At one point, it reached the office of defence minister Manohar Parrikar, and the minister reportedly advised the top brass of the DRDO and IAF to put an end to their disagreement.

The row was over denying this ace test pilot the captain’s seat (pilot-in-command) in the “Eye-in-the-sky” Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), Bengaluru, and undergoing evaluation now ahead of its induction by the IAF later this year.

Reason: Group Captain Krishna (Retd) was considered a “civilian test pilot” by the air strike wing because he opted for voluntary retirement from IAF in 2012, and therefore could not occupy the captain’s seat. “He has been torpedoed by the Air Force though he holds the record of flying all types of fighters, and even some transport jets, for close to 5,000 hours. If Brazilian pilots could occupy the captain’s seat when the Embraer-145 aircraft was bought for AEW&C project, how can the IAF prevent its former pilot from doing so His exit will be a great loss for both Tejas and AEW&C projects because none can match his expertise,” remarked his former commandant who also played a key role in these projects.

The fact that he had served the IAF for more than two decades did not count. Nor did the top brass of IAF factor in his contribution to making ‘Tejas’ a completely pilot-friendly and world-class fighter jet because he logged the highest number of hours onboard the indigenous aircraft and his inputs helped modify the cockpit over the years.

In fact, he has flown the prototypes, the production and operational versions of ‘Tejas’, even test-fired missiles and laser-guided bombs. He demonstrated the military jet’s agility to Mr Parrikar in Bengaluru on January 17, 2015, the day when ‘Tejas’ was inducted into the IAF’s fleet.

This ace test pilot encountered turbulence the moment he joined CABS in May 2015 with those at the helm at IAF’s Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), Bengaluru, insisting that only their officers occupy the captain’s seat even if they were junior to Group Captain Suneet Krishna. He flew 100 sorties even as the tussle escalated, but decided to move on to a corporate entity and relocate to Mumbai with no solution in sight.

Sources in IAF attributed the wrangle to lack of a system, complete with a hierarchy, to fly aircraft designed and developed by DRDO. “An idea has been mooted create a new system because an advanced version of ‘Tejas’ and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) are being designed by DRDO, but we need some time to put this system in place,” sources added.