Indian Air Force's transformation 'extraordinary': Air Chief Marshal

The country will rely on the air force to effectively respond to emerging threats, he says

Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on Wednesday said the IAF has historically demonstrated capability and the efficient use of technology more recently.

 

Addressing a parade to mark the 93rd anniversary of the IAF’s founding at the Hindan air base, on the outskirts of Delhi, Singh described the transformation from a four-aircraft force to the world’s fourth-largest air force as “extraordinary”.

 

In his bilingual speech, Singh told the audience, which included the Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi and Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, and many former chiefs of the IAF, that the world is moving towards making air power the “preferred instrument of statecraft” beyond diplomacy.

 

“As our nation navigates through the turbulent regional and global landscapes, it will increasingly depend on the IAF to provide effective response to emerging threats,” Singh said.

 

During Operation Sindoor, the IAF “proved to the world how air power could be used in shaping military outcomes within days,” he said.

 

The parade audience included defence attaches of friendly military countries and China – a rare appearance by a People’s Liberation Army officer at an Indian military function in recent years.

 

Singh presented 97 awards for bravery, including two posthumously- a medical assistant, who died in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, because of shelling from Pakistan, and another personnel (from the radar unit), who died from bullet wounds after being ambushed in a forward location and fighting back last year.

 

A French-made Rafale, a MiG-21 Bison whose squadrons have just been retired from service, and a Russian-origin and Indian-made Su-30 Mk1 were among the fighter jets on static display at the anniversary event. An Apache attack helicopter and a Globemaster military transport aircraft, both US-made, were also on show. The Akash missile and Rohini, a mobile radar, were among the Indian-made air defence systems displayed.

 

Two short helicopter flypast and a low-flying heritage-plane display were the only aerial activities the audience witnessed.  The IAF has not held a traditional flypast on Air Force Day at the Hindan air base since 2021. The main reasons are unclear. A source said official permissions are needed to keep air traffic under control during, before and after the event, such as shutting down airspace, which might not be feasible, given the capital city’s growing profile as a transit hub for commercial flights, including for international tourists. The source also said the flypasts have been moved to the skies above other cities in the country.