Twenty six tourists, mostly Indian citizens, were massacred in a terror attack in Kashmir on Tuesday, April 22. Although the terrorists were nominally from a Kashmiri separatist group, India quickly blamed Pakistan, alleging that Islamabad had provided the group with financial and logistical support. The two nations—whose competing claims to the disputed Kashmir region have long been a flashpoint for conflict—appear to be once again on the brink of war.

During the last period of fighting between India and Pakistan in 2019, the two sides avoided a full-scale war, but their air forces had a series of skirmishes. If this scenario is repeated, it is worth studying the two air forces in detail ahead of time, and examining their air power relative to one another.

Assessing India’s Air Force

On the basis of numbers, India has a stronger air force than Pakistan. The Indian Air Force (IAF), with about 2,300 aircraft and 135,000 active duty personnel, is the world’s fourth largest air force, and has commonly ranked within the top five globally in terms of effectiveness. And while the IAF doesn’t have the capabilities or........

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