Could India have used offensive air power in 1962 ?
One of the enduring views about the 1962 war is that India could have used the Air force to attack the Chinese and not doing so was a lost opportunity. However, this view has been made without any analysis and is typical of a lot of revisionist history and a what-if’ done without analysis. Even air force analysts have had mixed opinions about the use of air power in 1962. Both sides in my view have insufficient analysis. One point if view is that the military was keep to use air power but Nehru declined as he was concerned about Chinese retaliation by bombing Indian cities. This is an attempt to analyse the situation, as known at the time and look at the impact of using the air force in the 1962 war. Before the war : In 1959, as Indo-China relations worsened and the border dispute became serious, the army was notified that the Chinese were building airfields in Tibet. That was something that would influence our thinking during the war. In 1960. GOC Eastern Command Lt ...