Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 3: Air Chief Marshal A P Singh on Saturday said military power is increasingly concentrated around the aerospace domain, with recent conflicts demonstrating that air power has emerged as the cutting edge of military strength for achieving national objectives.
Addressing a press conference ahead of Air Force Day, Singh said geopolitical developments and conflicts around the world had highlighted the importance of strong military capabilities.
“As far as geopolitics is concerned, we all have seen the changes which are taking place in the world. From the conflicts which we see around, it is very clear that other elements of comprehensive national power of any nation rest on a strong military,” he said.
“Military power becomes the ultimate, and without adequate military power, any state remains vulnerable to coercion, and if we have to do things our way, if we have to follow the path that we want to follow, we have to have a strong military,” the IAF chief said.
He said recent conflicts had brought air power to the forefront of military operations.
“And when we talk about a strong military, in the recent conflicts we have seen that it is the air power which has come to the fore, which has come out as the cutting edge of military power, and it is one instrument on which any nation relies to meet its objectives,” Singh said.
The Air Chief Marshal said developments in defence transactions and strategic discussions worldwide also reflected the growing importance of the aerospace domain.
“Whether we look at defence transactions worldwide and strategic conversations that are taking place — whether it is advanced fighter aircraft, long-range precision weapons, integrated air command and control, or unmanned aerial systems — it is all very clear that they all reflect that military power is concentrated around the aerospace domain,” he said.
Earlier, Singh said India was likely to finalise the much-awaited Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) deal by the end of the current financial year if the plans progressed as scheduled.
He said price negotiations and other critical issues related to the proposed acquisition, estimated at around Rs 3.25 lakh crore, were currently underway.
India had cleared the proposal in February to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets in what would be the country's largest-ever defence acquisition programme.
The proposed deal has been formulated under a government-to-government framework with France, nearly two decades after the plan was originally initiated to strengthen the Indian Air Force's combat capabilities and expand India's Rafale fleet.