Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh Inaugurates Air Force Commanders' Conference

Second bi-annual IAF Commanders' Conference was inaugurated by the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri on November 25, 2019 at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan). Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria PVSM AVSM VM ADC, welcomed Hon'ble Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, Hon'ble Raksha Rajya Mantri Shripad Yesso Naik, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and Secretary Defence Production Subhash Chandra. He introduced Air Force Commanders to the Raksha Mantri.

Raksha Mantri addressed the Commanders and said "The Nation isproud of the Indian Air Force. I praise the IAF for its professionalism and laud all air warriors and their families for giving us a most competent and combat worthy force. The IAF has proven itself time and again. It has earned the respect of foreign Air Forces who are eager to cooperate as well as exercise with us. We are strengthening our defence capability through increased domestic production and reduced dependence on import of military hardware. We have to seize new opportunities for indigenous design and development and I appreciate the IAF's effort in this regard. I urge the Air Force Commanders to use the Conference for developing strategies against future challenges and enhancing IAF's capability. The IAF is growing steadily towards becoming a truly strategic aerospace power". The CAS briefed the Raksha Mantri on the current status of the IAF.

The CAS while addressing the Commanders emphasised the need for further enhancing our operational capabilities to deter any misadventure by our adversaries. He highlighted the need for continuous enhancement of in-house maintenance capabilities and optimum utilisation of new inductions in order to make IAF a formidable combat force. He also emphasised the need for enhanced joint training with the Indian Army as well as the Indian Navy for fostering jointmanship and ensuring national security.

The Commanders' Conference will be conducted on 25 & 26 November 2019; wherein discussions will take place on joint operations, anti-drone operations, countering asymmetric warfare and further strengthening our precision targeting, cyber and information warfare capability. Issues pertaining to indigenisation, streamlining procurement of equipment, strengthening training and optimisation of the HR policies would also be discussed during this Conference.