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IAF Battles NE Wildfires, Drops 1.4L Litres Water; Top Officer Talks AI Shift

The Indian Air Force is conducting simultaneous high-risk aerial firefighting operations in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, having already dropped nearly 1.4 lakh litres of water on a blaze in Walong. Air Vice Marshal Ajay Kunnath stated the IAF must transition from deterministic systems to probabilistic, AI-based models for its operations. He emphasized that air operations require absolute trust as they function in a near "zero-error" environment. Kunnath also outlined the evolution from human-in-the-loop to human-out-of-the-loop autonomy and noted the critical challenge of bridging the last 5% accuracy gap in AI systems.

Key Points: IAF Drops 1.39L Litres on NE Wildfires, Officer on AI in Ops

  • IAF drops 1.39 lakh litres on Arunachal fire
  • High-risk ops continue in Nagaland's Dzukou Valley
  • Air Vice Marshal pushes for AI shift in air ops
  • Stresses need for trust in zero-error environment
  • Highlights challenge of final 5% AI accuracy gap
3 min read

IAF helicopters drop 1.39 lakh litres of water to douse AP's Walong blaze, continue high-risk firefighting in Nagaland's Dzukou Valley

IAF helicopters fight fires in Arunachal & Nagaland. Air Vice Marshal discusses shifting to AI-based, probabilistic models for zero-error air operations.

"We are in a deterministic area at this point. We have to get into a probabilistic domain. - Air Vice Marshal Ajay Kunnath"

Walong, February 18

In a high-stakes aerial firefighting operation, the Indian Air Force is battling raging wildfires on two separate fronts in the Northeast, deploying heavy-lift helicopters in treacherous terrain and extreme flying conditions.

At Walong in Arunachal Pradesh, IAF helicopters have successfully extinguished a major blaze after dropping an impressive 139,800 litres of water over the affected area.

Simultaneously, operations continue over the Dzukou Valley in Nagaland, where Mi-17 V5 helicopters are drawing water from Padumpokhiri Lake near Dimapur to tackle fires close to Japfu Peak.

The officials are facing steep slopes, poor visibility, and rarefied air, making the aerial missions challenging.

Meanwhile, Air Vice Marshal Ajay Kunnath on Tuesday said that the Indian Air Force should shift how it uses technology for air operations, highlighting the importance of how such operations function in a "zero-error" environment.

Speaking with ANI on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit, he explained that the force is moving away from fixed systems toward AI-based models.

"We are in a deterministic area at this point. We have to get into a probabilistic domain," he said.

Because air operations function in a near "zero-error" environment, he stressed that trust is essential.

"The type of domain that we talk about, like air operations specifically, actually mandates trust. And that is implicit. We are in a domain which is sort of zero error. So we need to now have probabilistic solutions which take us to that trust and failsafe operations."

Summing up the goal, he said, "If you really want me to sum it up, it is trust, failsafe, moving from automation to autonomy."

He also described how human involvement changes as AI systems advance. "We gravitate from human in the loop, where he becomes a decision maker, to human on the loop, where he uses it to his advantage, and finally autonomy, where it goes human out of the loop. You have to decide which area you are into and which facet of the human you want to use -- in, on or out."

He warned that AI solutions cannot simply be copied from one field to another. "You can't take one particular scenario and think that it can replicate or manifest itself in the other domain," he said.

Finally, he pointed out a key challenge with AI accuracy. "Your probabilistic takes you to 95 per cent. But the fact remains that it is the last five percentile that actually determines a leaker who can come in," he said, adding that better models and higher-quality data will be needed to close that gap.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

S
Sarah B
The scale of this operation is incredible. 1.39 lakh litres of water dropped! It's good to see such a swift and effective response to protect the ecologically sensitive Dzukou Valley. Hope the local wildlife is safe.
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Priyanka N
The Air Vice Marshal's points on AI are very thoughtful. Moving from 'human in the loop' to 'human on the loop' makes sense for high-risk ops. But that last 5% accuracy gap he mentioned is crucial. You can't have an AI making a mistake at 15,000 feet.
R
Rahul R
While I appreciate the tech talk, my main concern is prevention. These forest fires in the Northeast are becoming too common. Need better forest management and community awareness programs alongside these heroic firefighting efforts.
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Aman W
Jai Hind to the IAF! This is true nation-serving, not just during war but in environmental crises too. Padumpokhiri Lake to Japfu Peak is a long haul. The Mi-17 pilots are doing a phenomenal job. Stay safe!
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Kiran H
The "zero-error" environment point hits home. We often take for granted the precision needed in these operations. One small miscalculation and it's a disaster. Investing in better AI and data models for our forces is the need of the hour.

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