What does it take to make the Indian Air Force the nation’s first responder and primary deterrent?
In an exclusive interaction with Life of Soldiers, the Chief of the Air Staff offers a compelling perspective on the future of Indian air power.
Responding to a question posed by Life of Soldiers, the Air Chief outlines how his strategic vision is being translated into operational readiness, integrated air defence, precision strike capabilities and multi-domain warfare. Going beyond strategic intent, his response reveals how emerging technologies, indigenous capabilities and evolving doctrines are shaping a more agile, adaptable and formidable Indian Air Force.
Here is the Chief of the Air Staff’s response to Life of Soldiers on the vision driving India’s aerospace power and strategic deterrence.
Life of Soldiers: When you took over, you framed air power as the ‘First responder and primary deterrent.’ What’s the one sentence that capture your strategic vision for the IAF and which parts of it are now baked into doctrine and force posture?
In practical terms, the vision translates into four commitments. The first is maintaining a high degree of operational readiness, so that the IAF can respond the moment the nation calls. The second is strengthening our integrated air defence. The IAF’s Integrated Air Command and Control System is now connected with the Army’s Akashteer and the Navy’s Trigun, and multi-layered, mobile air defence with gap-free surveillance has become a critical priority. The third is building precise offensive capability, through long-range precision and stand-off weapons that can hold targets at risk deep in hostile territory. The fourth is planning and operating in a multi-domain environment, bringing together air, space, cyber and the electromagnetic spectrum. This approach is reflected at the national level in the Joint Doctrine for Multi-Domain Operations, released by the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri in August 2025.
Important elements of this vision have now been institutionalised. We have been preparing our people to understand warfare across domains and to incorporate emerging technologies into their operational thinking, because technology delivers an advantage only when our air warriors know how to exploit it. We are also pursuing indigenisation with determination, so that capability and strategic autonomy reinforce each other. A deterrent that depends on others for its critical components is never fully credible. With every indigenous system we induct, our deterrence becomes both stronger and more truly our own.
The vision is now firmly in place. What remains is to keep building on it with urgency, so that the Indian Air Force continues to be the force the nation turns to first, and the force every adversary must reckon with.
