2014 to usher in new IAF chief, Army vice-chief

Two officers, who would oversee India acquiring more military muscle by having its first mountain strike corps and a brand new fleet of fighter jets, will assume their responsibilities on Tuesday at the turn of the new year.

Air Marshal Arup Raha will take over as the new chief of the Indian Air Force, which has waited close to two years for the Defence Ministry to take a final call on the purchase of 126 fighter jets.

Almost simultaneously, Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag will take over as the new vice-chief of the Army, with a strong possibility of becoming the next chief once the incumbent Gen Bikram Singh retires in July, 2014.

The outgoing IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne on Monday handed over the baton of Chairman, Chief of Staff Committee to Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh who will hold the post till his retirement.

The three services are in favour of creating a permanent chairman of the Chief of Staff Committee, with a fixed tenure instead of rotating the post among the senior most military officer. Breaking a tradition, the Army chief appointed Suhag as the new vice-chief with incumbent Lt Gen S K Singh retiring on December 31.

As the vice-chief of the Army, Lt Gen Suhag would not only be in charge of operations but also remain an understudy of Gen Singh in policy matters.

Being the former head of the Eastern Army Command in Kolkata and commander of 3 Corps at Dimapur, Lt Gen Suhag has wide experience handling issues concerning the China border, which will come in handy for the strike corps and its infrastructure.

For Raha, the foremost task would be to convince the Defence Ministry to ink the commercial pact with french vendor Dassault, which was shortlisted for its Rafale aircraft almost two years ago.

With a depleting squadron strength, the air warriors are hoping to have the 126 fighter jet contract in place, so that the induction of the new aircraft can happen at the earliest.