If we go into a scientific approach to assess the operational implications of narrowing the asset base, the requirements may match the ones projected by the IAF regularly. While we do have some shortages, we have worked to optimise our sustenance and activity cycles to ensure a high tempo of operations and extract more from what we have. The government is also supportive in our endeavour to make good our requirements of weapons, platforms and systems in an expeditious manner.
He is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Experimental Test Pilot with more than 5000 hours of service flying on a variety of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft.
His operational tenures include being the Commanding Officer of a MiG 27 Sqn and Air Officer Commanding of a frontline air base. As a test pilot, he led the MiG 29 Upgrade Project Management Team in Moscow, Russia. He was also the Project Director (Flight Test) at the National Flight Test Centre, looking after the flight testing of Tejas. He has held staff appointments of Air Defence Commander at HQ South Western Air Command, and Senior Air Staff Officer at HQ Eastern Air Command. He then took over as Air Officer Commandingin-Chief, Central Air Command. Prior to taking over as the 28th Chief of the Air Staff, the Air Officer held the appointment of Vice Chief of the Air Staff.
While acknowledging that the IAF faces many challenges at a time when the characters of the warfare are undergoing changes, he assured PRAKASH NANDA that India has a very credible and potent air force to give a befitting response to any contingency. Excerpts of the interview:
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POSITIVE STEPS TOWARDS POTENTIAL REGIONAL COOPERATION
It has been a whirlwind of diplomatic activity for India recently. India participated in both the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO) summit that took place in Islamabad on October 15-16, and the 16th BRICS Summit was held in Kazan, Russia, from October 2224, 2024. These back-to-back summits within a short span of time underscore India's active role in shaping regional and global diplomacy, balancing national interests with multilateral cooperation
THE EAGLE'S EYE TEJAS MK-II RADAR PIERCES VEIL OF THE SKY
The Tejas Mk-II, featuring DRDO's GaN-based Uttam AESA radar, marks a major leap in India's defence, enhancing range, precision, and multi-target tracking capabilities, highlights GIRISH LINGANNA
LESSONS FROM GAZA AND LEBANON
The ongoing war, loosely called the Gaza War, is actually being fought in two different loosely connected segments; against the Hamas with a spill off in the West Bank and East Jerusalem areas against Palestinian factions and against the Hezbollah in Lebanon with a spill off in Syria. Treating Israel-Hamas War and the Lebanon War as separate entities, RAJ MEHTA explains the lessons from these wars
PRIME MOVER
The indigenously developed Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP) has received a boost with its first export order from the Kingdom of Morocco
TRANSFORMATIONAL INDUCTION
The GA-ASI MQ-9B will dramatically enhance the ISR and precision strike capabilities of the Indian armed forces
TACAN PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
Navigation systems have evolved significantly since the Viking era, with Tactical Air Navigation TACAN) now widely used for air and sea travel. Post-World War Il, reliable systems became essential for safety and efficiency, as highlighted by DR. SUJAN KUMAR SARASWATI, in this article on TACAN’s operational principles.
AIRBORNE TRACKER
Indigenous efforts towards AEW&C and AWACS platforms need to be stepped up even as international programmes extend the current state-of-the-art for such aircraft, highlights
AFFORDABLE LETHALITY THE INDIAN DILEMMA
India's defence dilemma is now being complicated by the lessons learnt in the Ukraine and Gaza wars because these conflicts are reshaping the way wars are fought in the modern world.
FROM IMPORTS TO SELF-RELIANCE IN ARMS
Self-reliance in Defence Production needs new ideas, new definitions _es and an appropriate methodology, argues AMIT COWSHISH
"THE INDIAN AIR FORCE IS WORKING HARD TO REMAIN A CREDIBLE AIR FORCE"
Commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 21, 1984, Air Chief Marshal AMAR PREET SINGH PVSM AVSM took over as the 28th Air Chief of India on September 30, 2024.
