‘IAF ready for China challenge’

Air Force played a crucial role in fight against COVID-19, R.K.S. Bhadauria says
R. Ravikanth Reddy
Hyderabad

India’s security prepared-

ness was in full swing in view
of China’s posturing in the
Galwan region and the
changing geopolitical situa-
tion in neighbouring coun-
tries such as Afghanistan,
Chief of the Air Staff Air
Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bha-
dauria said here on Saturday.
The deployment of forces
would be based on the
ground level need, which
was being monitored closely.
Continuation of deployment
of forces post Galwan would
depend on the varying situa-
tion.
Basic deployment would
continue to maintain securi-
ty. As far as the IAF was con-
cerned, it had the deploy-
ment capability at a short
notice as per requirement, On the upswing: Sarang helicopters perform in an airshow at the Air Force Academy in
he told presspersons. Dundigal on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Saturday. RAMAKRISHNA G.
*

On the current situation

on the Ladakh front, he not-
ed that disengagement plans
on the friction points were
on through 11 rounds of
talks.
MiG-21 accidents
On the series of accidents in-
volving the MiG-21, he said
they were not due to age fac-
tor alone and stopping the
flights was not the answer.
The aircraft were upgraded
between 2005 and 2010 and
the current accident rate had
remained more or less the
same.
The MiG-21s would be re-
placed with new aircraft in
the next few years in a
phased manner, he pointed
out.
The Indian Air Force (IAF)
chief, who was in Hyderabad
to review the Combined
Graduation Parade held at
the Air Force Academy at
Dundigal here, said the in-
duction of Rafale jets into
the IAF was on as per plan
and would be done by 2022.
COVID-19 did not have much
impact on the plan.
Earlier, addressing the pa-
rade, he said the IAF was fo-
cussing on rapid infusion of
technologies due to the
evolving security challenges
on all fronts and also
beyond.
Niche technologies
The infusion of niche tech-
nologies and combat power
had never been as intense as
now to meet the security
challenges. The role of air
power was crucial in any
conflict and the IAF was pre-
paring to meet those chal-
lenges. He also referred to
the crucial role played by the
IAF in the fight against
COVID-19.
Air Chief Marshal Bhadau-
ria reviewed the Combined
Graduation Parade, in which
161 flight cadets of flying and
ground duty branches were
commissioned as IAF
officers.
He presented ‘wings’ and
‘brevets’ to the cadets who
successfully completed the
flying and navigation train-
ing.
He also awarded ‘wings’
to officers of the Indian Navy
and the Indian Coast Guard
on successful completion of
their flying training at the
academy.