Budget and Capability, UK and India compared

A thought occurred to me the other day, what with all the budget cuts to the RAF and such…

The RAF may be cut yet further in coming years, to the smallest number of aircraft and personell in it’s history. Whilst the systems in its inventory may be the best they have ever operated, the small numbers owned certainly affect capability.

Enter the IAF…

With a defense budget that is about half that of the UK, the Indian armed forces operate a host of capable systems, (Su-30MKI, Mi-8/17) etc, in much larger numbers than the RAF fields.

Is the IAF, as a warfighting organisation, more capable than the RAF? Can the disparity between the budgets and capabilities of these two organisations just be put down to the wage differences between India and the UK?

Should the RAF consider buying types such as the Su-30MKI or Mi-17 in order to field sufficient numbers of aircraft?

Just a thought…