Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari stated on Thursday that the battlespace of the future will be cluttered, congested, contested, and complex, highlighting the necessity of rethinking, reforming, designing, and reconstructing the conventional warfighting machinery to accommodate this new paradigm.
Here at Savitribai Phule Pune University, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) was giving the General BC Joshi Memorial Lecture on “Transformation of IAF into a Contemporary and Future Ready Aerospace Force.”
He articulated the vision of the Indian Air Force as laid down in its latest edition of IAF’s doctrine (2023) – “to be an agile and adaptive air force that provides decisive aerospace power in the furtherance of the country’s national interest”. To be able to achieve the vision, the IAF needs to “see first and see the farthest, reach first and reach the fastest and hit first and hit the hardest”, he said.
In order to maintain air superiority in the region, the Chief of Air Staff emphasised the significance of obtaining cutting-edge platforms and equipment, such as electronic warfare systems, sensors, communication, and airborne and unmanned platforms. Mr. Chaudhari discussed the difficulty of operating in a battlespace driven by technology as well as the importance of having personnel with the necessary training.
According to him, future multi-domain operations would depend heavily on investments in innovation and “disruptive” training programmes that emphasise the integration of technology for skill development.
The IAF chief also discussed the efforts made by the force to increase efficiency by automating its maintenance, administrative, and operational procedures through the use of big data analytics and artificial intelligence, or Al.
In order to adopt best practices and improve operational performance, the Chief of Air Staff discussed the IAF’s dedication to developing strategic alliances with friendly countries through cooperative exercises, information-sharing platforms, and teamwork.
He said that the future battlespace would be “cluttered, congested, contested and complex” and that there was a definite imperative to “reimagine, reform, redesign and rebuild our traditional war fighting machinery to adapt to this emerging paradigm”.
He also highlighted the IAF’s role in nation-building, emphasising the “sterling” role the force plays in providing disaster relief and humanitarian aid during natural disasters as well as evacuating Indian diaspora from combat zones.
