Air Marshal A P Singh will take over as the next IAF chief from Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari on Sept 30, at a time when the force desperately requires much faster induction of indigenous Tejas fighters as well as force-multipliers amid the continuing military confrontation with China.
Govt went by the seniority principle in appointing Air Marshal Singh (59), a fighter pilot who has notched over 5,000 hours of flying on a variety of aircraft after being commissioned in Dec 1984, to the top post.
A qualified flying instructor and experimental test pilot, he held important command, staff and foreign appointments, including as Central Air Command chief at Prayagraj, before becoming the IAF vice-chief in Feb last year.
As a top-notch aviator who earlier conducted extensive flight testing of the Tejas light combat aircraft, Air Marshal Singh knows fully well that the single-engine fighters are critical for IAF to make up its fast-depleting numbers.
Air Marshal Singh will also have to push hard for induction of more force-multipliers into his force. For one, IAF is making do with just six IL-78 mid-air refuelers, which are crucial to enhance the operational range of fighters.
For another, IAF is lagging far behind even Pakistan in the “eyes in the sky” arena. It has just three indigenous ‘Netra’ airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, apart from the three Israeli Phalcon AWACS inducted in 2009-2011. The new chief should ensure DRDO delivers in time the plan to develop six Mark-1A and six Mark-2 versions of the Netra aircraft.
