Aatmanirbharta not at cost of nation's defence, says vice air chief

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has demonstrated the integration of multiple forces in domains of air, land, sea, cyber, information and space, and how they are "united" to achieve the goal, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh, said on Friday.

In his address at a Centre for Air Power Studies seminar in New Delhi, he also said that 'Aatmanirbharta' is "not just a buzzword", it is something that all stakeholders need to put their heart and soul into, and make sure technologies and weapons are developed and manufactured in India, "so that we are not relying on an outside agency who could change its alliance or stop flow of weapons to our country" when the time comes.

During the seminar exhibition on air and missile defence hosted by the think-tank at Subroto Park, many speakers also spoke about various lessons from ongoing conflicts in the world.

"One thing is certain, if we need to do something, we need to stay... in the game, we need to modernise, we need to continue to grow, continue to innovate and we need to continue being ahead of the curve. Otherwise, we lag behind and we are just chasing," Air Marshal Singh said.

Technological advancements, the rapid pace that is being seen in people's normal life, have also "infused themselves into our weaponry, defence systems". Today, what was unthinkable or unimaginable few years back is a reality, he said, adding that the impact on the defence forces, on the warfighting, has made it clear that "we need to be agile and flexible in our thoughts as well as actions".

The ongoing conflicts that have been alluded about, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the multi-domain battlespace, is a "classic example of what is going on today and what we are likely to face in our future conflicts", the Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) said.

"This conflict has also demonstrated the integration of multiple forces in domains of air, land, sea, cyber, information, space and how they are united to achieve the goal. I am sure everyone present here, including my friends from other services will agree that the air domain has clearly emerged as a singular trans-domain link and strong force across domains, a strong method for cross-domain application of force. It is not just an enabler, it has become a force multiplier," he asserted.

The VCAS also referred to the Israel-Hamas war to underline the importance of air domain.

Even in the urban warfare construct that is seen in Israel-Hamas war, the air domain has been used extensively, whether it is utilising those fighter aircraft with precision weapons or the formidable Iron Dome (air defence) system or utilising those low-cost rockets and loiter munitions by Hamas in challenging that very formidable and very costly system itself, he said.

The VCAS also said that in this highly dense battlespace, "We need to put in place plans to have optimal and innovative utilisation of available resources, and at the same we need to ensure we are improving our systems through upgrade or procurement."

Air Marshal Singh emphasised that the "biggest lesson that we have learned from today's geopolitics is to be self-reliant."

As they say, there is no permanent enemy or permanent friend, there is only permanent interest, he said.

"So, 'Aatmanirbharta' is not just a buzzword, it is something that we need to put our heart and soul into, and make sure these technologies and weapons that we are talking about are all developed and manufactured in India, so that we are not relying on an outside agency who could change its alliance or stop flow of weapons to our country, and put us on the mat, when time comes," the VCAS said.

The DRDO, private industries can bolster armed forces' capabilities in radars, communications and a plethora of other things.

"Aatmanirbharta is what we are riding on. Majority of contracts are with Indian partners, Indian industry... But, this Aatmanirbharta cannot be at the cost of nation's defence. Nation's defence comes first and foremost," he said.

"And, if the IAF and India forces have to ride on Aatmanirbharta, it is only possible if everyone, from DRDO to DPSUs to the private industry, hold our hands and take us on that path. And, don't let us deviate from that path. Because, when it comes to national defence, there will be compulsions to deviate from that path in case we do not get the things that we need, or the kind of systems or weaponry required to survive in today's world," the air marshal said.

He underlined that defending a nation is "everybody's job and not just the job of persons in uniform".

However, the VCAS flagged that "the rate at which we are getting our equipment at the moment too low" and there was a need to increase it.

"When we look at our adversaries, the rate at which they are growing, the rate at which they are imbibing these technologies... we have a long gap to catch up with and this gap is widening further. Something that we need to look at as a whole and we need to find a solution to this gap that is building," he said.

Also, keeping an eye on the future, the IAF has operationalised a dedicated Weapon Systems (WS) Branch and a sub-branch of this is going to be dedicatedly responsible for surface-to-air guided weapons, the VCAS added.

In his address, he also said that while the four basic requirements or tenets of air defence remain the same, with complexities and scales that have gone up, these systems also need to be more and more complex.