Citing the volatile situation on India's borders, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the armed forces to remain prepared for any contingency and respond to it at a short notice .
While inaugurating the second bi-annual Indian Air Force (IAF) Commanders' Conference at the Air Headquarters today, Singh lauded IAF for maintaining a high level of preparedness and exhorted the commanders to brainstorm solutions towards the conference theme of 'Ensuring Certainty Amidst Uncertainties'.
He said that the role of IAF in future conflicts is crucial and it needs to harness the capabilities and opportunities offered by Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Handling and Machine Learning.
Singh also mentioned that the efforts in the field of indigenization through ‘Make in India’ initiative is showing results and the orders of LCA Mk 1A and C-295 will open new opportunities in the indigenous aerospace sector.
Expounding on theaterisation, the Defence Minister mentioned that enhancing jointness is essential and the structure should be evolved after closely examining various options, and inputs from all stakeholders would be taken into consideration.
Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari emphasised on the need to develop multi-domain capability in order to give a swift and befitting response to any misadventures by the adversaries.
He also stressed on the need for joint training with the Indian Army and Indian Navy to enable synergized application of combat power in future conflicts.
Uncertainty in the geo-political landscape makes it an imperative for the armed forces to train, equip and adapt to rapid changes. During the three-day conference, commanders will discuss and brainstorm situations which may affect national security and focus on measures to enhance operational capability.
Issues pertaining to strengthening training and optimising HR policies for effective utilization of manpower will also be discussed.
CDS General Bipin Rawat and Secretary Defence Production Raj Kumar were also present on the first day of the commanders' conference.
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