Mhow: Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh on Tuesday cautioned against a hasty rollout of theatre commands, urging instead a step-by-step approach towards creating joint structures for the Indian Armed Forces. Speaking at Ran Samvad—the first-ever tri-services dialogue—he underlined the primacy of air power while warning that sweeping changes without careful evaluation could dilute the core strengths of each service.
“The structure, whether existing or new, must not add layers to decision-making. The OODA loop—Observe, Orient, Decide, Act—must remain as short as possible. If anything elongates it, we must reconsider,” Singh said, emphasising that efficiency must remain the guiding principle of reforms.
Calling air power the “most flexible and lethal arm of combat,” he said jointness must not come at the cost of service-specific expertise. “An officer trained in the Air Force cannot seamlessly perform in the Army’s domain without that background, and vice versa,” he noted.
Reflecting on Operation Sindoor, he said earlier the services often functioned in silos, but the Chief of Defence Staff had brought clarity in escalation, target allocation and responsibilities. “The CDS brought us together and eliminated major planning gaps. What remained were only minor execution issues,” Singh said.
Rejecting “copy-paste” models from abroad, the Air Chief argued for reforms tailored to India’s needs, recommending a joint planning and coordination centre under the Chiefs of Staff Committee in New Delhi.
On technology, he warned against blindly imitating foreign trends, citing wars in Ukraine and West Asia. “These countries are fighting wars shaped by their own circumstances. Each conflict is different,” he said, adding that while drones were useful, “self-reliance cannot be measured simply by manufacturing drones.”
Reaffirming air power’s supremacy, Singh stressed that piloted aircraft would remain indispensable. “No matter how advanced technology becomes, man cannot be taken out of the loop. Ethical considerations demand that the decision to strike must rest with humans,” he asserted.
Looking ahead, he called for self-reliance in space, cyber, electronic warfare and AI, warning that “these capabilities are no longer optional but mandatory for the future of warfare.”