New Delhi: In his first comprehensive articulation on the theaterisation plan, Chief of Air Staff AP Singh said on Sunday that the Indian Air Force is not in favour of permanently splitting fighter assets geographically, advocating instead for a tailored structure built around India’s specific security requirements rather than replicating foreign models.
In an exclusive interview to PTI, the Air Chief Marshal said the guiding principle for theaterisation should be “centralised control” where necessary and “decentralised execution” where appropriate as he cited ongoing conflicts in various geographies to assert that air power can decisively shape military outcomes.
Air Chief Marshal Singh also emphasised that the “transformation of this scale” should be implemented in phases so that operational readiness is “never compromised” and warned against the “trap” of trying to predict the future battlefield with “excessive certainty”.
Announced in 2019 as India’s most ambitious military reform since Independence, the theaterisation plan seeks to integrate the three services for greater operational synergy.
The proposed architecture envisaged three integrated commands: a Northern Theatre Command in Lucknow focused on China, a Western Theatre Command in Jaipur to address challenges from Pakistan and a Maritime Theatre Command in Thiruvananthapuram.
However, progress has stalled due to divergent views among the three services over the proposed command structures. The IAF has been cautioning against implementing the plan in a hurry and has strong reservations about splitting its fighter squadrons under the proposed structures.
Referring to Operation Sindoor, Air Chief Marshal Singh said it was carried out under a joint architecture established by the Chief of Defence Staff and the three service chiefs where the centralised allocation and swift reallocation of critical assets proved decisive.
“Recent conflicts around the world have once again underlined how decisively air power can shape military outcomes. That is precisely why the question of how air power is organised matters so much,” the IAF Chief said.
“We are not viewing theaterisation as an exercise to permanently divide fighter assets geographically. The IAF is fully committed to jointness and integration,” he said, outlining the IAF’s vision for the project. At the same time, he asserted that air power remains India’s primary responder to any security challenge.
Air Chief Marshal Singh noted that the real question is how to employ air power to its greatest effect within an integrated structure, arguing air power’s defining strengths are its speed, reach, flexibility and ability to concentrate combat power rapidly at the point of decision.
“An aircraft is not relevant only to the geographical area from which it operates. With aerial refuelling, long-range weapons, networked sensors and appropriate basing, air power can be massed from considerable distances and shifted between sectors as the threat evolves,” he said.
“The guiding principle should, therefore, be centralised control where necessary, and decentralised execution where appropriate. That way, air power can be concentrated where it is needed most, while commanders retain the agility to act swiftly on the ground,” he said.
The Chief of Air Staff, then, highlighted how the joint structure during Operation Sindoor produced desired results.
“Our own experience bears this out. During Operation Sindoor, under a joint architecture established by the Chief of Defence Staff and the three service chiefs, the centralised allocation and timely reallocation of critical resources proved decisive in the outcome.”
“The tri-service air picture I described a moment ago is what made such dynamic employment possible,” he said.
Air Chief Marshal Singh also called for avoiding the trap of trying to predict the future battlefield with “excessive certainty”.
“As we design future structures, we must also avoid the trap of trying to predict the future battlefield with excessive certainty. What we can anticipate is that the next conflict will likely be: faster, more autonomous, yet more network-dependent, more transparent, yet more deceptive and more precise in some respects, and characterised by mass in others,” he said.
“Our structures must be able to absorb that shift. They should be evaluated against India’s specific security requirements, not built by replicating models from other countries, because each nation operates within its own strategic, geographical, technological and operational environment,” he noted.
“A transformation of this scale should also be implemented in phases, so that operational readiness is never compromised,” he said.
The Air Chief Marshal said the IAF is a committed partner in this national effort. “We will work hand in hand with our sister Services to build structures that are distinctly Indian, that preserve the inherent flexibility of air power, and that ensure India fights its future wars as one,” he said.
The IAF chief added that future conflicts will be multi-domain by their very nature, and the three services will plan and operate together “far more closely than ever before.” Under the theaterisation model, the government seeks to integrate the capabilities of the Army, Air Force and Navy and optimally utilise their resources for wars and operations.
According to the theaterisation plan, each of the theatre commands will have units of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force and all of them will work as a single entity looking after security challenges in a specified geographical territory.
At present, the Army, Navy and the Air Force have separate commands.
Previous Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Anil Chauhan (retd.) had submitted to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh a comprehensive proposal on the theaterisation plan. However, it is not immediately known whether the defence ministry is pursuing the theaterisation plan in line with the report.
The theatre commands are being planned to integrate the capabilities of the three services and to ensure optimal utilisation of their resources.
Last year, Chauhan had said the “dissonance” in the military on the tri-services commands will be addressed considering the “best national interest”.
Current Chief of Defence Staff Gen NS Raja Subramani is learnt to be focusing on key aspects of the overall theaterisation plan.
The government in 2019 had tasked the Chief of Defence Staff to implement the theaterisation plan.
