IAF chief calls for re-educating officers to keep up with technology and future wars

Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari has advocated “re-educating entire generation of officers” to keep up with the “accelerated technology infusion” and “fight the tomorrow’s wars”.

Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, delivering a keynote address at a capstone seminar organised by the IAF and Centre for Air Power Studies, stated that the intellectual edge could challenge emerging technology advantage.

“The impact of new technologies on the revolution in military affairs has made us to sit up and acknowledge the fact that new investments in military concepts would have to be made. The new ideas and organizational approaches must be preceded by an evolved approach to cerebral preparation of future military leaders. We are aware of the continuously rising technological and numerical edge that our adversaries have over us today. It is my firm belief that this can be neutralized by an intellectual edge the capacity of individuals to outthink, to outplan and to outsmart the adversary. This can be germinated through focused self-learning, supported by institution units of Higher education like the College of Air Warfare (CAW),” said Chaudhari in his address.

• Read: GE-HAL deal to co-produce 99 jet engines to cost less than $1 billion

The Air Chief also added, “Irrespective of the fact that the character of warfare is changing, the nature of work done by humans will continue to evolve. We need to blend formal learning with curated programs for self-learning. The impact of emerging technologies and the appreciation that machines and humans have to work in a symbiotic way has to be seen as a requirement. We may need to re-educate entire generations of officers in the next few years to bring everyone up to speed in view of accelerated technology infusion.”

The capstone seminar, attended by the top brass of the services, defence Attaches, senior bureaucrats, and aerospace power scholars, among others, as the culmination of the Warfare and Aerospace Strategy Program (WASP) conducted by the IAF at Air Force Auditorium here.

He also stated, as per the IAF, that the endeavour of programmes such as the WASP is to prepare future military leaders in the cerebral domain by promoting the habit of reading. The knowledge thus gained must lead them to ‘How to think’, rather than ‘What to think’, Chaudhari stressed.

In the first session of the Seminar, the participants presented their papers on the topic of ‘India and the Emerging New World Order: Future Role of IAF towards India’s Regional and Global Aspirations. This was followed by the second session, where they discussed ‘Advantages of Application of Airpower Towards an Integrated Indian Continental & Maritime Approach’.

IAF Rafale to flypast in Paris

On July 14, when PM Narendra Modi attends this year’s Bastille Day parade in Paris to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the India-France strategic partnership, three IAF Rafale fighter jets will participate in the flypast along with other French Air assets. Among the Indian contingent in France will also be Army’s marching unit.

Modi has accepted the invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to be the chief guest on their National Day. In 2016, the French sent a marching contingent to India to accompany their then-president Francois Hollande, the chief guest at the Republic Day parade.