NEW DELHI: The geopolitical situation has made it necessary for the Indian Air Force to be ready not just for short and swift wars but also for the kind of situation persisting at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Thursday said, "The current geopolitical situation necessitates that the Indian Air Force prepare for intense and small duration operations at short notice."
"In the force, space and time continuum, there would be a need for us to prepare for short swift wars as well as be ready for a long-drawn standoff akin to what we are seeing in eastern Ladakh," added the IAF chief while speaking at a logisitics seminar here.
Reiterating that the IAF’s recent experiences as well as the evolving geopolitical scenario has mandated the force to be operationally and logistically responsive at all times, the IAF chief highlighted that "this new paradigm of high intensity operations, coupled with minimal build-up time would require major changes in terms of operational logistics".
The IAF chief reposed faith in effective logistics management as the key to sustenance of India's combat potential.
"While movement of squadron load to operational locations would be supported to an extent by dedicated air effort, timely replenishment of aviation turbine fuel, armament, aviation spares, aviation lubricants and fuel, oil and lubricants would be a challenging proposition as, during contingencies, the roads and rail heads would be choked due to simultaneous movement of Indian Army along the same axes," he said.
Proposing a need to formalise an integrated road and rail management plan and explore the feasibility of increased containerisation and use of civilian wide bodied aircraft, he said a vision document should be looked at.
"I am certain that availability of such a document will act as a guide for commanders and logisticians to help transform logistics into a future ready, combat empowering entity," said ACM Chaudhari.