Pakistan's plans to acquire F-16 fighter aircraft from the US will have an impact on India but it is equipped to face any challenge, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi said Monday.
"To say that Pakistan's plans to acquire F-16s won't affect us is wrong. It makes a difference, but India is tough enough to face any challenge," he told a news conference after attending a National Cadet Corp (Air Wing) show in here.
He said Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had revised the F-16 acquisition plans and "could reduce the numbers" in the wake of the October 8 quake.
The air chief also ruled out plans to phase out the MiG series and said the mind-set that the Russian fighter planes were "outdated or dangerous" needed changing.
"If MiGs are unsafe, the Indian Air Force would not risk sending its pilots for training or routine flying exercises.
"These are the safest ones. IAF does not plan to phase them out, or dump them in the river Ganga. We will continue to exploit each MiG aircraft till last use," Tyagi said.
He fended off a media barrage on MiG crashes, saying the air mishap figure had come down this year. The air chief added that India's plans to buy the Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft from was progressing as per schedule. "The Indian Air Force will get 66 AJTs by the stipulated period (June-September 2007). The pilots are being trained in Britain," he said.
Buying an aircraft "is not like a car purchase. It takes years to get it expedited", he added.