IAF to steer proposed Joint Aerospace Command
31 Jan 2013 6:43 AM IST
The proposed Joint Aerospace Command (JAC) will have the Indian Air Force (IAF) helming it. Of course, with the two other joint commands, the third, JAC will also have the participation of all the three services. The Aerospace cell of the IAF will get subsumed within the JAC, as a senior officer at the Integrated Defence Staff Headquarters (IDS HQ) told Millennium Post.
The command will be handling the earth observation and also the dedicated military satellites, besides the communication satellites. It will also take charge of the ballistic missile defence (BMD), besides the Net Centric Warfare (NCW).
As with the other two joint commands, this third command will also be headed by a three-star general – an air marshal in this case. Likewise, the J-SOC will be headed by a lieutenant general and the JCC by a vice admiral.
All the three services will see manpower accretion at the service level as all the three joint commands seek allocation of personnel. The services have provided their early acquiescence to these ideas.
Though there will be a pooling of resources at the beginning, the JAC will have to acquire assets on its own in terms of more satellites and further defence shields against possible incoming missiles.
The joint command proposals will trigger further debates within the Union government. The government approval will follow.
The existing ‘standard operating procedures’ of the services and the ‘rules of engagement’ of the services will also be followed by the joint commands.
‘While it has to be said that war is an extension of state policy by other means, we will still not up the ante, so to say, by forming these new joint commands,’ the senior official at the IDS HQ said. These commands, though have, clear strategic agendas, they will have their efficacy at the tactical level. ‘We will remain within the threshold.’
The command will be handling the earth observation and also the dedicated military satellites, besides the communication satellites. It will also take charge of the ballistic missile defence (BMD), besides the Net Centric Warfare (NCW).
As with the other two joint commands, this third command will also be headed by a three-star general – an air marshal in this case. Likewise, the J-SOC will be headed by a lieutenant general and the JCC by a vice admiral.
All the three services will see manpower accretion at the service level as all the three joint commands seek allocation of personnel. The services have provided their early acquiescence to these ideas.
Though there will be a pooling of resources at the beginning, the JAC will have to acquire assets on its own in terms of more satellites and further defence shields against possible incoming missiles.
The joint command proposals will trigger further debates within the Union government. The government approval will follow.
The existing ‘standard operating procedures’ of the services and the ‘rules of engagement’ of the services will also be followed by the joint commands.
‘While it has to be said that war is an extension of state policy by other means, we will still not up the ante, so to say, by forming these new joint commands,’ the senior official at the IDS HQ said. These commands, though have, clear strategic agendas, they will have their efficacy at the tactical level. ‘We will remain within the threshold.’
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