Joint planning among Indian Armed Forces key to win any war in shortest possible time: Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff
The Indian Air Force chief said all the three services will have to adopt a coherent approach to effectively deal with all possible security threats facing the country, asserting that his force strongly stands for "jointness".
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PTI | New Delhi | Published: November 18, 2018 3:39:53 pm
The Indian Air Force chief said all the three services will have to adopt a coherent approach to effectively deal with all possible security threats facing the country, asserting that his force strongly stands for “jointness”.
Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff has strongly pitched for institutionalised structure for joint planning among the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and Indian Army so that the country wins any war in future in the “shortest possible” time.
The Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff said all the three services will have to adopt a coherent approach to effectively deal with all possible security threats facing the country, asserting that his force strongly stands for “jointness”.
“No single service can win the war solely on its own inherent organic capabilities given the variety of threats which nations are capable of inflicting upon each other,” Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff said
“Thus it is imperative that the three services promote joint planning and exploit the strengths of sister services to help win a war in the shortest possible time. India by itself is one theatre,” Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff told PTI.
There have been deliberations within the government and the three forces on whether Indian Armed Forces should go for integrated theatre commands where all the manpower and assets of the three services will be under the command of one officer. The US, as well as several western countries, follow this model.
There were voices within the defence establishment who were in favour of setting up at least two theatre commands — one in western sector for dealing with Pakistan and other in eastern sector for dealing with any eventuality along the frontier with China.
Though there is no clear indication of whether the government was serious about setting up theatre commands, in April, it formed a Defence Planning Committee headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to prepare a national security strategy with a focus on ensuring convergence among the three forces.
“What we require is an institutionalised structure for joint planning. Incidentally, Indian Air Force is the only service that deputes senior officers who serve alongside principal fighting formations of the other two services so as to improve and enhance their combat potential in achieving desired outcomes,” said Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff.
Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff said the Indian Air Force enables the Indian Army and the Indian Navy to achieve laid down objectives set by the political leadership.
At present, Indian Armed Forces has 17 single-service commands. The country’s only tri-services command was set up in 2001 in the strategically located Andaman and Nicobar.
Nearly two years back, China reorganised its military into five theatre commands to enhance the overall capabilities of the forces.
Asked about the Indian Air Force’s long-pending modernisation initiative, Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff said Indian Air Force has a capability-driven modernisation plan with an aim to achieve full spectrum capabilities.
“It is the Indian Air Force’s endeavour to achieve self-sufficiency through a focused, sustained and evolved indigenisation programmes by supporting the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Rest assured, Indian Air Force is prepared to respond to future challenges and safeguard the Indian skies,” Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff said.
The Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff said the government was pursuing multiple initiatives to achieve higher levels of indigenisation and self-reliance in the defence sector.
This, Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff said, was sought to be achieved by harnessing the capabilities of both the public and the private sector industries, thus increasing the defence industrial base in the country.
“Self-reliance is a major cornerstone on which the military capability of any nation must rest. Our country has immense potential to leverage the manpower and engineering capability within the country for attaining self-reliance in design, development & manufacturing in defence sector,” Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff said.