What does Indian Air Force's new doctrine contain

#Defencescope
The #IAF has come out with a new doctrine. ThePrint’s Deputy Editor Snehesh Alex Philip speaks to Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury (Retd), a key architect of the new doctrine to understand what it is all about.
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[nikhilsingh]

Can you fix the audio please. It doesn't feel like it is easy on ears, it echoes.

[orangelays]

The history lesson from the officer is fascinating- thank you

[mrinalguptaray]

Nicely explained by the AM Diptendu. We may like to understand that all three services fight to attain the political objective by fighting respective tactical and strategic battles. He has clearly explained how at some point times political masters have restrained the freedom of total employment of power. But ultimate military victory depends on occupation of enemy land which is primarily done by the Army. So at some point of time entire effort of other two services have to be pointed towards assisting the Army attaining the same.

[megda]

Excellent insight into IAF roles and doctrine

[arpanmanna]

Wow! So much new info about the role played by our Air Force in past wars. Very nice interview.

[surendrabarsode]

1. Thanks Snehesh for this interview with AVM!. 2. As regards the national security doctrine, it ought to be in place first before we into the theaterization ; however, such doctrine need not be put in public domain first as long as it is well understood and absorbed by all the three forces! So no Chief of any Armed Forces need to convey his wisdom to the larger public! The earlier this is sorted out, the better it is for the country. Hope Rajnath Singh will act fast and get it done before 2024!! 3. BTW, Nehru in 1962 appears to be like Zelensky of today as both approached USA for air power support!!

[finixhawkeye]

If I am not mistaken, DChow was flying Mig29 during Kargil. I hope you ask him to do a interview of the events during Kargil. His experience and his experience of being the first batch of Su30mki pilots who went to Russia for training.Some experience of Red Flag will be amazing.

[dushyantchaudhry]

was a big big fan of Diptendu Choudhury ever since he was a young MiG 29 pilot in the late 80s.

[RanjeetSingh-qtyh]

Sound quality sucks. Please sort out these technical issues next. Nevertheless great interview with quality questions and ofcourse equally fitting answers.

[johnsonchacko]

A doctrine also clarifies to the members of the organisation as to what their role is. It prevents the tail from wagging the dog.

[srikanthxxxxx]

Airforce should understand that only a unified force could wage a modern war. There's no need for three separate arms which competes with each other instead of working together for a common goal. Israel defence forces should be the model we should try to replicate. See how they've successfully out fought all their neighbors simultaneously in multiple wars. This was only possible because of the deep integration of all the arms of the military. The threat of a two front war is very real.

[ramkrishnan]

I thought IAF has been merged with the home guards after loosing their last two jets in one day. Seems they were able to salvage some museum pieces.

[gameshiva]

When summarizing the wars, we clearly understand that there is a Airforce restraint and separate service mindset. Also it has clearly reinforced my understanding that a theatrical formation would have won several wars. However, if I understood correct, there is an US Airforce and they have a subset that is theaterized..

[balkaransidhu]

Battle readiness of Indian Air Force exposed twice in the past. .. during kargil war and after Balakot attack. In my opinion…. real war situation ..IAF will struggle again if they don’t prepare properly.

[libshastra]

I skimmed through the doc. It’s very light on the future roadmap (page 87 onwards), there’s no roadmap about its future requirements. Just bullet points about that they want to do R&D on PPP and shift to capabilities. Roadmap is supposed to at least talk about how you address issues mentioned in your doctrine.

[unclesam]

Which modern air force operates 7 different types of Fighter aircrafts... Indian Airforce is a joke... its ridiculous how much money is wasted on the peripherals of maintaining the support systems of all the different types of aircrafts.. on top of that they won't let helicopters(including attack helicopters) being operated by army...
"Paagal banaa rahe hai sabko..."

[subyjerrin]

The Americans have tested a sixth generation aircraft whereas we still use junks from the last century . Our squadrons are depleting rapidly when there is a possibility for our enemies attacking us together from both the west and the east.

[nithinpv]

Good interview. But felt pity at the place where the Air Marshall (retd), was struggling to defend the opposition to theaterisation. His argument that the Airforce is very different from other two due to territorial limitations, isn't a good one. Did the airforce/airpower of other world powers become less effective after theaterisation ? We are taking comfort in status quo. But we will be soon left far behind and will find ourselves fighting for survival in this fast changing world. Unless we embrace the changes required to face the challenges

[Lucky-ozkb]

officers of iaf are sick with their superiority and British officershahi mentality.
Or theatrisation se inke promotion or officershahi ko khatra h isliye dikkat h .
Baaki world ki best defence forces theatrisation follow kr rhi h, inko bas apni power paise or pbor ko dabane ki padi h .

[rahulsidshah]

Good interview - but Snehesh - please ask short, simple questions and don't repeat yourself - let the expert talk. Perhaps - what are core elements of new doctrine, what does air force need to change, how will this impact inter-services co-operation, what capabilities need to be acquired. How does this compare to our adversaries, etc.