IAF creates new branch for weapon system operators

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, October 8

The Indian Air Force has established a new Weapon Systems Branch for its officers, which is aimed at unification of all weapon system operators in specialist ground-based systems and airborne platforms under a single stream. This is the first time since Independence that a new operational branch has been created in the air force.

“This will essentially be for manning of four specialised streams of surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and weapon system operators in twin- and multi-crew aircraft,” Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Choudhari said during his address at the Air Force Day parade here on Saturday. “Creation of this branch would result in savings of over Rs 3,400 crore due to reduced expenditure on flying training,” he added.

Stating that the traditional domains of land, sea and air have expanded to include space and cyber, the Air Chief said that we are increasingly seeing the convergence of all these domains into one continuum in the form of hybrid warfare. “The use of non-kinetic and non-lethal warfare to supplement kinetic means has changed the way wars will be prosecuted. Therefore, conventional systems and weapons will need to be augmented by modern, flexible and adaptive technology,” he said.

He said we need to accept the fact that tomorrow’s conflicts cannot be fought with yesterday’s mind-set and the ability to execute all missions in an environment of denial will increasingly be the basis of our training in the air force.

“Keeping this in mind, there is a need to plan for integrated and joint application of combat power. The key to success in multi-domain operations is to have flexible, robust and redundant command and control structures which will allow a joint force to dominate across domains. No single service can win a war on its own,” he said.

Air Chief Marshal Choudhari said the IAF had initiated necessary steps to ensure that its fighter squadron strength remains at the desired level. Indigenous development of six Air Borne Early Warning and Control Mk-II systems has been sanctioned and the acquisition of ISTAR, UAVs, counter-UAS technology and strengthening networks is being actively pursued.

Pointing out that the advent of drones, swarm drones, hypersonic weapons and space-based ISR systems have added a new dimension to war fighting, the Air Chief said that to effectively handle the full spectrum, artificial intelligence is being used for quicker decision making and analysis of big data. “I am happy to report that several projects are well under way to utilise the potential of automation, data analytics and artificial intelligence to transform our operational philosophy,” he said.

Stressing that growth and success of any organisation revolves around its personnel, he called upon the air warriors to incorporate the principle of continuous process improvement at the workplace through critical problem identification, understanding the root causes and providing workable solutions to eliminate waste. “We must focus on multi-skilling and multi-tasking to create a smart working environment and enhance efficiency,” he said.

Earlier, he reviewed an impressive ceremonial parade commanded by Gp Capt Anoop Singh, with a three aircraft formation of Mi-17 helicopters trooping the IAF ensign followed by a formation of three Rudra helicopters flying past the saluting dais in an aerial salute. The IAF’s new combat uniform was also unveiled.