Stronger air defence for India, a takeaway from West Asia conflict: Ex IAF chief

Defence and strategic affairs experts from India and neighbouring countries are taking part in a three-day conclave being hosted by Synergia, a Bengaluru-based think-tank, at the Manekshaw Centre.

New Delhi: As the war in West Asia rages on, former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari (retd) on Thursday said the first takeaway for India is the necessity to build a "very strong air defence" with more weapon systems, radars and other operational capabilities.

Interacting with PTI on the sidelines of a national conclave here, Chaudhari referred to the use of drones in the conflicts in Ukraine and in West Asia, and said they are going to play a "huge role" in any forthcoming future conflict, even as he cautioned that right now "we should not place all our bets just on drones." "Yes, they will supplement the existing efforts, but we cannot rely completely on drones to win a war for us," the former IAF chief said.

On February 28, the US-Israel combine pounded Iran with bombs, and the country, in retaliation, attacked several Gulf nations hosting American military bases, impacting global aviation operations, oil prices and triggering a looming energy crisis.

Defence and strategic affairs experts from India and neighbouring countries are taking part in a three-day conclave that started on Wednesday and is being hosted by Synergia, a Bengaluru-based think-tank, at the Manekshaw Centre.

Chaudhari on Thursday delivered a keynote address at the conference on the theme -- 'India's Multi-domain Air Spine'.

On the sidelines, when asked if he foresaw an end to the West Asia conflict any time soon, the veteran military leader quipped, "Your guess is as good as mine." "I think primarily, the first takeaway from the ongoing conflict is the necessity to have a very strong air defence for the nation. And, because what we have probably may not suffice in a conflict of this nature, which is going on there.

"So, in order to strengthen it, we need to have more weapon systems, more radars, more integration of all the systems, integration of the cyber capabilities, into all this. So that is the need of the hour to first and foremost have a very strong air defence network over the country," Chaudhari told PTI Videos.

The conflict in West Asia remained the dominant topic of discussion in several sessions that have been held over the two days at the conclave.

Asked for key areas in terms of integration and jointness, the former IAF chief, before his address, said, "So … to build a very robust network, a mesh network which will join all the sensors, the shooters, the platforms, all of them together on one common mesh, on one common national network." He added, "And this will require a lot of work … such diverse systems all onto one grid. So I think that is the first step to get everybody on one network so that in any multi-domain operational scenario, we should not look at the capabilities of individual services, but the capabilities of the national power have to be brought to bear on the adversary." The Indian military has drawn several lessons from the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict that began in 2022, and the combat use of drones in it has become a case study for many researchers and think-tanks, he said.

"The element of being able to carry out actions using low-cost platforms like drones has been highlighted in Ukraine, and here (in West Asia conflict) also, and the necessity to spend more on defence against such drones has also been highlighted," he said.

Chaudhari said drones are going to play a "huge role" in any forthcoming future conflict that we can envisage.

"But, right now, we should not place all our bets just on drones. Yes, they will supplement the existing efforts, but we cannot rely completely on drones to win a war for us in future," he said.