Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday dismissed the concerns of the Indian Airforce (IAF) over the new integrated theatre commands and went on to call it Army’s “supporting arm” during wartime. Sharp differences have erupted among armed forces over the creation of four new integrated theatre commands.
CDS Rawat firmly said that the 4 new theatre commands, maritime theatre command (MTC), air defence command (ADC) and two land-based theatre commands have already been sanctioned by the government and will be created whether the IAF likes it or not.
While speaking at a webinar, General Rawat said that the Air Force is required to provide support to ground forces and it still remains as a supporting arm. He then compared the Indian Air Force to other combat units such as the artillery supports or engineers support to further emphasise his supporting arm point.
“The Air Force is required to provide support to ground forces. Do not forget that the Air Force continues to remain a supporting arm to the armed forces, just as the artillery supports or engineers support the combat units in the Army. They will be a supporting arm. But they have a charter. They have an air defence charter and supporting the ground forces in times of operations. This is the basic charter which they have to understand,” Gen Rawat said.
The IAF has consistently shown a difference in opinion and has taken a conservative stance on this issue. Their major concern is the further division of already limited Air Force resources such as the MiG aircraft and the newly instated Rafale jets. Speaking about this, Gen Rawat flatly dismissed the concern of IAF and said “Even today, IAF assets are divided among its five operational commands (apart from the maintenance and training commands).”
Later, speaking at the same webinar, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria contradicted CDS’ opinions and stressed the importance of the Air Force as a separate unit on the battlefield. “Airpower has a huge role to play in any integrated battle area. It is not an issue of support alone, and there are a whole lot of things that go into any air plan that is made,” the IAF Chief said.
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Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said the integrated theatre command is a much more complex matter. “There are issues in terms of some of the options that are being discussed,” he said, adding: “We must get it right. It is the most important reform that has an impact on warfighting.”
The defence ministry has set up a high-level committee and has given them the responsibility to form 4 new theatre commands which would integrate into the already existing services, the IAF, Army and Navy. The committee includes the three vice-chiefs of each of the armed forces and the Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff. This move has been sought to thrash out differences among countries’ defence.
The motive behind this move is to create and sustain a more efficient defence in the country. This move will also “raise and operationalise” the four new commands whose total manpower and assets will be placed under one single operational commander, according to the Times of India.
