Ladakh Standoff Has Boosted Jointness Amongst Services, Says Air Force Chief

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Apart from planning for quicker combat fleet enhancement in view of fast depleting numbers, the Indian Air Force is focussing on strengthening combat enablers to retain its lethality and increase its reach in coming years.

In an exclusive interview to Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhuri dwelt on lessons learnt from the Russia-Ukraine war, the changing nature of war and why the Air Force will always be the first offensive choice in any conflict.

Discussing the recently held firepower demonstration Exercise Vayushakti 2024, the CAS said that exercises at such massive scales are undertaken only once in a few years. The exercise being wide in scope allows the coordinated employment of all IAF resources, to include fighter, transport and rotary wing assets, all kinds of ammunition, ISR resources, radars etc. Normally, the IAF practices weapon delivery within a unit or small formations. This was an occasion where IAF synchronizes the weapon deliveries of precision munitions, conventional weapons, surface to air and air to air weapons.

The CAS also informed that additional AWACS will be built on Boeing 321 to enhance their numbers with the IAF. He also dwelt upon the necessity of air-to-air refuelling capabilities. As far as ISR capabilities are concerned, the MQ-9B has been a big help.

Talking about the operational readiness aspects, the CAS informed that the induction of C295 does mitigate the transport fleet situation. The induction of LCAs will have a similar effect on the fighter aircraft holdings.

Talking about lessons drawn from standoff with China in Eastern Ladakh, the CAS highlighted leadership, ability to adapt, and training among other factors that the IAF has inculcated.
The Ladakh experience has also boosted jointness. According to the CAS, common platforms, common systems will have common maintenance. Complete interoperability between the Army and the IAF.

#india #iaf #indianairforce #vayushakti2024 #pokhran

00:00 – Introduction of Part 1
00:39 – Vayu Shakti 2024
4:17 – Lessons from Russia-Ukraine war
5:49 – Importance of ISR
6:41 – Ait-to-Air refuelling capability
7:30 – Need for force enablers
9:15 – Aatmanirbharta in defence
11:12 – IAF: Combat Fleet
13:09 – Helicopter/Transport Aircraft strength
13:50 – Experience with Chinook/Apache
14:18 – Conclusion of Part 1
14:52 – Introduction of Part 2
15:17 – Lessons from Ladakh standoff
16:41 – Operating along LAC
19:42 – Coordinating with Army, ITBP
20:33 – Roadmap for Theaterisation
24:50 – Revamping training process
26:34 – IAF: First offensive choice in any conflict
27:56 – Conclusion
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20 thoughts on “Ladakh Standoff Has Boosted Jointness Amongst Services, Says Air Force Chief”

  5. It was good interview given by air chif sir but up to 14.33 m video

    Air chif mention about
    1) procurement 12 AEW&C jets but still they are not telling us exactly time line when they are getting inducted and when they going into fully operational services.

    2) they also talk about procurement of 200 more LCA mk1 but ???

    But lets talk abut Hal capacity if IAF give 200 lca mk-1 order then

    According to 16 jet per year = 12.5 years it needed to deliver all jets

    According to 24 jet per year = 8.3 years it needed to deliver all jets

    If Hal took 8.3 years to delivery all mk-1 jets then when we going to induct mk-2 ???

    Or for mk-2 did Hal have any plan for new production production line setup ??? And same for AMCA also.

    but still they are not telling us exactly time line when they are getting inducted and when they going into fully operational services.

    3) Air chif sir also talk about MRFA project they said we r in talk but still they are not saying about exact time line of induction of mrfa jet

    And when our enemy is moving on 5th gen jet at two front war near in future at that time why still we are going for 4.5 gen jet in mrfa ??? Why did we are not thinking about future why iaf still wants stuck in 1980 mindset by procuring 4.5 gen jet ???

    ( note I just watch 14.33 m video rest video is i will watch after this comment posting but untill now i get huge disappointment from it 😔😔 )

    Reply

  7. China is not pakistan, China has vast resources and has a separate 7 storey building to study India, where they just study Indian military and languages, while Indian military are just reactionary when they see our enemies get some new gadget they jump around to get similar system instead of planning our own systems, is it true that we cant understand what the Chinese are speaking while the Chinese know atleast 4 indian languages including Tamil.

    Reply

  9. Jaisalmer, the station near the Pak border, could not see a single anti aircraft gun deployed thru out the video. The Vayushakti airshow is over with mixed performance.
    Can we not increase the frequency for the airpower testing from every three year to every year considering the rapidly changing technology as well as the the challenges?
    What preparations IAF is doing to get AI ready?

    Reply

  13. Please IAF do something its much needed wake up call for us now becuse

    1) People who started working behind us on the 5th generation project they are now moving forward, and their 5th generation prototype has become a reality.

    But what about our amca project ???

    Still we are unable to find out any private firms who will be manufacturing our AMCA in the future since from 3 year , as we have lost nearly three crucial years for it .

    Are we truly serious about our ongoing endeavour, or are we just playing meri go round meri go round at all ???

    From the bottom of our hearts says , sir, who is responsible for such delays in AMCA is that there is a flaw in our system and the Turkish or South Korean system is good or their approach is good in terms of 5th generation jets?

    Look, even though the Turkish economy is not in excellent shape, they are able to release their 5th generation prototype, whereas we are unable to release our 5th generation prototype despite having a large and stable economy.

    2) Leave Amca, but what about the MRFA project?

    Despite our air force's rapidly declining its strength, you guys (IAF) are still unable to finalise the MRFA deal.

    I ask why and I wonder when you guys wake up from sleep now !

    Sry my words may feel harsh but it sad reality 😔😔

    3) and when our enemy is going for 5th gen jet at that era why u guyes ( IAF ) wants to procure 4.5 gen jet i ask why ???

    Every time I ask about this question , and I get an answer from an IAF officer that we will be able to combat against 5th generation jets by 4.5th generation jets???

    Are we truly serious about 5th generation warfare???

    😐😐😐

    Sorry for expressing that, but we need to wake up immediately and take action on the mrfa deal as well as the amca initiative.

    Reply

  14. I have never seen Nitin Gokhale asking tough questions to armed forces officials. I guess this is to continue remaining in their good books so that he continues to get invited by them for interviews and visits to forward locations.
    Some crucial questions which should have been asked in this interview-

    1. Pakistan going for 5th generation fighter (FC-31) and China already having deployed them (J-20) at Ladakh border – How is India India going to counter them specially in case of two front war?

    2. How will delay in AMCA affect India? Is IAF thinking of buying off the shelf 5th generation fighters?

    3. In case of conflict with Pakistan/China happening now, how will the deficiency in force multipliers like AWACS and Refueling tankers affect performance of IAF?

    Reply

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