First Since Independence! IAF Creates New Weapon System Branch After Centre's Approval

The central government gave its nod to create a weapon system branch for Indian Air Force (IAF) officers on Saturday (October 8), which was observed as the 90th anniversary of the IAF. Since independence, this is the first time a new operational weapon system branch has been created for the 'Bharatiya Vayu Sena.'

The new operational branch will be manning four specialised streams- Surface to Surface missiles, Surface to Air Missiles, Weapon System Operators in twin and multi-crew aircraft, and Remotely Piloted Aircraft. This would entail the unification of all weapon system operators under one entity.

During the celebration in Chandigarh, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said, "Creation of this branch would result in savings of over Rs 3,400 crore due to reduced expenditure on flying training," reported India Today.

He added, "The key to success in multi-domain operations is to have flexible, robust, and redundant command and control structures which will allow a joint force to dominate across domains."

New-Age Warfare

The IAF launched the new operational branch on its 90th anniversary, celebrated under the theme, "IAF: Transforming for the Future.' The aim is to keep the challenges of new-age warfare in mind and bring transformation wherever required. Doing with the challenges, the new weapon system branch is an example of the same.

The IAF chief also mentioned, "The challenge I pose to you all today is to transform into forward-thinking and forward-looking air warriors who can support our process of adapting to a constantly changing environment." He called upon every air fighter to solve problems with creativity and drive the lead to change.

Notably, the advent of cutting-edge technology in war-like situations has given a new dimension to innovative thinking. The use of hypersonic weapons, drones, space-based ISR systems, and swarm drones are examples of the same. The weapon system branch has also been launched to deal with technological advancement and save the budget for the defence system.

The IAF chief also added that 3,000 Agniveers would be invited for initial training by December 2022. To meet the requirement of numbers in the force, more Agniveers will be inducted into the team. According to the officials, building infrastructure to accommodate new officers is under process, and the team structure is also being finalised.

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