| Biswo |
Posted
on 02-May-02 08:49 PM
Now that the nation is going through the excruciating pain of lack of revenue and
reduced industrial output, RNA has presented its wish list to the government.
Included in its list are the names of helicopters and gunships it would like to have!
That our CNC loves to berate current politicians and political system for today's
woe is not open secret. But here is a question to our military brass: why didn't we
have the air force from the beginning?
Cost? Give me a break. The establishment of the concept of air force was fueled
by the proven cost effectiveness it brought. In a military classic "Airships in
Peace and War" published in 1910 by R.P. Hearne, the writer passionately enlisted
the benefits an efficient air force could bring forth.Among his points were the
concept of precision bombing (which was very difficult to achieve those days)
which would obviate the need to mount a military warfare to chastise a
recalcitrant warlord living in a far-flunged hideout. Military warfare for such
expedition were often cumbersome, both due to the fatality of military personnel
it would incur and from the point of view of cost. Unfortunately, while the world
powers of those days did in deed retain air force in their military, the idea of
precision bombing was acutally neglected. The French actually used cluster bombs
in the villages of Morocco so that maximum harm be inflicted to the restive
colony.So did the British who bombed Pathans in India and Afgans in Kabul in
1910s.
Didn't we need air power in Nepal before today? definitely, we did. But the
relative peace in the kingdom provided some kind of easy time for the powerful
ones to earn money out of 'its absence.' Just last year, the police force was
heard to be paying Rs 44 crore(more than $6 million in today's price) as rent.
Compare that to the price of A-10($6m) and Apache helicopter($18m).And think
about what we got with that 44 crore and what we could have gotten with those
helicopters?
The airforce wasn't materialised because nobody thought about that seriously.
Because there was no serious think tank to assess military's need. Because military
was run like a family fiefdom. In stead of increasing the efficiency of lower ranked
recruits,they were sent to the houses of higher ranked officers as batman and
servant.Military became a black hole of injustice and anarchy, despite its projected
image of disciplined force!
The Panchayati rulers were afraid of buying more helicopters/airplanes either
because they thought that would look unseemly in front of the multitudes of
ragged populace, or because they thought they were comfortable with rented
planes/vehicles. They didn't have confidence in pursuading people about the
efficacy of the airforce.Well, they didn't even bothered to make road to some of
the barrakcs in the hilly region! Khampa revolts were put down, Jhapa revolts
were put out, and despite the harangue on current political leadership, Maoists
WERE NOT product of our current polity. A look at their official papers suggest
that they were talking loudly about this since 2045s. They opposed the advent of
multiparty democracy in 2046, because they said 'it was only half an achievement'.
They burned the constitution of 2047 the day it was proclaimed, and the editor of
their mouthpiece 'Yojana' , Nimkant Pande' was the only journalist incarcerated
then by KP Bhattarai's government. So the problem was brewing even then. It
was that the luxury of military barrack didn't let the military brass be alert in this
matter!
When the first world war was over, Britain was the only power which had an
independent Air Force in military, with 3300 strong airplanes. The rising cost of
keeping them worried the lawmakers then and they became serious about
abolishing airforce. The head of airforce, Sir Hugh Trenchard, then
offerred a proof of the benefit of keeping airforce. There was this Mad Mullah in
Somalia(? Well, somewhere in Africa) who was really causing Britain big problem
then. A military excursion to nab or kill the guy was becoming very costly for British
force. A serious estimate put the time necessary for nabbing the Mad Mullah at
a year. Sir Hugh Trenchard then dispatched his airforce boys for the mission,
taking the mission from army. Time required for the mission to be successful: 6
weeks. The prime minister became very happy, and gave the air force another
mission: Iraq bombardment, along with six million pounds to spend. The Air Force
survived!
Air Force was not an expensive luxury. In stead, it was a cost effective
commodity. We didn't realise that. Why?
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