'Ridiculous': IAF Chief on filming of conversation with HAL officials during Aero India

IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh

IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh on Saturday said the Indian ecosystem needs to reach a stage where new technology comes out of India and others are chasing it.

At an interactive session at the India Today Conclave, the IAF Chief was also asked about his recent conversation with some senior officials and engineers of HAL during the Aero India 2025 in Bengaluru that went viral on social media.

Air Chief Marshal Singh termed the filming of their private conversation as 'ridiculous'." Would you want someone sneaking into what you are talking privately. I was talking to my colleagues in HAL. And, the way it (video) came out, was not right.. We have also made mistakes…” he said.

”This was a friendly talk with test crew and engineers whom I worked with,” he said, expressing his displeasure over the filming of the conversation and it being uploaded on social media.

During the interaction,the IAF Chief also said one of the lessons from the ongoing conflicts is that one needs to be prepared for a protracted, long-drawn war.”So, along with our capabilities, we need to build our capacity, a capacity to last a long-drawn war,” the IAF chief said, adding the earlier idea that wars are going to be ”short and swift” has changed.

Also Read: India can start producing fifth-gen Sukhoi-57E fighter jets in 'short time': Russia's Rosoboronexport

"And, we need back up of the industry so that we continue to fill up losses that we have. Second, the primacy of control of air, has come out loud and clear,” he added.And, the role of technology, especially unmanned vehicles, has come to the fore from the conflict, the air chief marshal said when asked about the lessons from ongoing conflicts in the world.Air Chief Marshal Singh, however, said with advancement in technology, ”we need to catch up”. He was also asked about reports that Pakistan is going to get a fifth generation fighter aircraft from a neighbouring country.It is in open source intelligence domain, there are talks going on of fifth generation aircraft being given to Pakistan, he said.

The IAF chief, however, said, if an enemy aircraft is technologically advanced, then tactics can be employed.It a ”cat and mouse game” which will keep happening. ”We will have to anticipate earlier, before they (adversary) does” and get ahead of them in technology, he said.However, Air Chief Marshal Singh rued that ”we are chasing technology”.”We need to reach a stage where new technology comes out of India and others are chasing it,” he asserted.

He urged that people working in research and development should be ”ready for failure” and quickly learn from it.During the interaction, he was also asked how would the IAF respond to a similar situation today vis-a-vis it did with the Balakot airstrike in February 2019.”We don’t have preconceived ideas about what we are going to do. We have options available. And, it is decided based on what is the threat perception..the outcomes that we want… I am sure Balakot wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have the political will,” the IAF chief said.He also underlined that one has to be confident, but not overconfident while entering a war.

*With PTI Inputs