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When an Indian Air Force MiG-23 trainer went down this week, it was the second crash in the past few days and the seventh this year. It highlights the growing problem of maintaining technological and operational standards that are concomitant with India's role as a regional power. Two of the crashes involved planes that are of 1960s vintage. The MiG-21, which forms the backbone of the Indian Air Force, was first deployed in the 1970s. The T-72 tanks comprising the bulk of the army's armoured corps are at least a generation behind current standards . The situation calls for a well thought out government response. But that is unlikely to happen while the defence purchase system remains as it is, opaque and plagued with problems. Obtuse thinking on the part of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and bureaucrats is one of them. Deals to procure new combat aircraft to replace the outdated MiG-21s as well as attack helicopters and light utility helicopters...