NEW DELHI: As the war rages on in West Asia, former Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhary said India’s first takeaway is the need to build a “very robust air defence” with more weapons systems, radars and other operational capabilities.
Interacting with PTI on the sidelines of a national meeting held here on Thursday, Chaudhry referred to the use of drones in conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia and said they would play a major role in any future conflict, even as he cautioned that for now “we should not place all our bets on drones only”.
“Yes, it will complement existing efforts, but we cannot completely rely on drones to win the war for us,” the former head of the Israeli Air Force said.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran, bombing it. In response, Iran attacked several Gulf states that host US military bases, affecting global aviation operations and oil prices and causing a looming energy crisis.
Defense and strategic affairs experts from India and neighboring countries are participating in a three-day conclave that began on Wednesday and is hosted by Synergia Foundation, a Bengaluru-based think tank, at the Manekshaw Centre.
Chaudhary on Thursday delivered a keynote address at the conference on the theme ‘India’s Multi-Domain Air Backbone’.
On the sidelines, when asked if he expected the conflict in West Asia to end anytime soon, the veteran military commander joked: “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“I think, first of all, the first thing that can be learned from the ongoing conflict is the necessity of a very strong air defense for the nation. And because what we have is perhaps not enough in a conflict of this kind that is going on there.
“So, in order to strengthen it, we need more weapon systems, more radars, more integration of all systems, integration of cyber capabilities, in all this. So, this is the urgent need first and foremost to have a very strong air defense network over the country,” Chaudhary told PTI Videos.
The conflict in West Asia remained the dominant topic of discussion in many of the sessions held over two days at the conclave.
When asked about the key areas in terms of integration and interoperability, the former IAF chief said, before his speech: “So…to build a very robust network, a mesh network that will bring all the sensors, shooters, platforms, all together in one common network, on one common national network.”
He added: “This will require a lot of work… such diverse systems all in one network. So I think this is the first step to putting everyone on one network, so that in any multi-domain operational scenario we should not look at the capabilities of individual services, but should use the capabilities of the national force to influence the adversary.”
He said that the Indian Army has drawn several lessons from the protracted Russian-Ukrainian conflict that began in 2022, and the combat use of drones in it has become a case study for many researchers and research centers.
“The element of being able to carry out operations using low-cost platforms such as drones has been highlighted in Ukraine, and here too, the need to spend more on defense against such drones,” he added.
Chaudhry said drones will play a “huge role” in any upcoming future conflict we can imagine.
He added: “But, for now, we should not place all our bets on drones alone. Yes, they will complement current efforts, but we cannot fully rely on drones to win a war for us in the future.”
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