Drones evolutionary, not revolutionary for IAF: Air Chief Marshal AP Singh

Drones not revolutionary but evolutionary for IAF: Air Chief Marshal AP Singh

New Delhi, Oct 3

Acknowledging that the use of loitering ammunition helps in creating chaos and taking down some of the adversaries, the IAF chief said, "As far as a separate drone force is concerned, in the Indian Air Force, these things have existed for decades. These capabilities have been with us for decades. So, if I can say, drones are not revolutionary to the Indian Air Force. Yes, they are evolutionary."

Talking to media persons ahead of Air Force Day, Singh said, "We are growing in drones; the number of drones, the number of munitions, and the types of drones and ammunition are increasing. Whether we need a separate drone force, I don't think so."

He said drones should be part of the same setup and we have to operate together.

"These have to be together along with other weapons so that they bring in that effect. We cannot operate one type of weapon separately somewhere and another type of weapon separately. So, we have not thought of having a separate force, not at all," he said.

However, the IAF chief indicated that there will be some specialised drone units. "We already have them. If needed, we need to increase the number of units for that force," he said.

Talking about the multilateral exercise Tarang Shakti, the IAF chief said, "The whole idea of any multilateral exercise, international-level exercise is to generate bonhomie and to have interoperability and to learn from each other's experiences and each other's way of working."

"So, there will be outcomes. Every time you operate, every time a new thing, you will see, you know, them operating differently. This time we have new aircraft also which have joined us; F-35s are operating for the first time in a multilateral exercise in India. So, there are some new countries which have brought in their assets. There are some observers, observer countries, which are coming in for the first time," he said.

"And then to be able to have a joint kind of communication setup where you can talk to each other in a common language. I'm not talking about just the English language as such, but they should understand each other. So, that is how the outcomes are in all these exercises, and I'm sure this Tarang Shakti Phase 2, or second version of Tarang Shakti, will also bring in a lot of lessons for us so that we can improve ourselves, and I'm sure they also will take back," he said.

The exercise is being held at Jodhpur airbase from September 26 to October 12 with participation of over 80 aircraft and more than 2,000 personnel from 40 nations.

— IANS