Rajnath Singh addresses IAF commanders' conference. (Photo: MoD)
New Delhi: The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, on Thursday asked the armed forces to strengthen both the offensive and defensive sides of the “element of surprise” to stay ready against conventional and emerging threats. He was addressing the Air Force Commanders' Conference in New Delhi.
Singh said rapid technological change and the shifting nature of warfare made it necessary to keep improving intelligence and surveillance, integrate systems better and identify threats before they develop.
“Our Defence Forces must develop capabilities and methods that leave the adversary with no time to react or recover, while simultaneously ensuring that we are never caught off guard by an unexpected move from the enemy,” he said. He added that surprise could take conventional as well as electronic forms.
Lessons from recent wars
The minister said modern conflicts were moving beyond traditional battlefields into non-contact domains, where missiles, drones and advanced weapon systems play a major role. Citing the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars, he said drones and air defence systems had become critical to modern warfare.
He asked commanders to prepare for threats such as kamikaze drones, and for surveillance and counter-drone operations.
Singh also asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) to develop dedicated doctrines and architectures for electronic, cyber and space warfare. “Victory in future conflicts would depend not merely on the number of aircraft, but also on technological sophistication, speed of response and precision of preparations,” he said.
He urged commanders to make these areas a core priority and build them into the force’s thinking, planning and operations.
He said the armed forces were going through a transformative phase, with reforms in organizational structures, jointness and integration, and operational concepts. The changing security environment, he added, required continuous adaptation and a forward-looking approach.
Praise for Operation Sindoor role
Singh commended the IAF for the way it applied its doctrines and operational methods during and after Operation Sindoor, the military action India launched in May 2025 after the Pahalgam terror attack. He praised the professionalism, restraint and judgment of air warriors in carrying out their tasks.
According to the minister, the lessons from the operation were visible in the IAF’s changing procedures, especially the greater emphasis on drones and air defence systems. He said these lessons were shaping the pace and direction of change across the armed forces.
He also congratulated all three services for the coordination and integration they showed during the operation, and said jointness must continue to guide military planning and execution.
Training and Agniveers
Singh asked commanders to keep training air warriors in emerging technologies. He also stressed the need to use the technological knowledge of young recruits, saying their skills could help improve decision-making and organizational development.
On the Second Tour of Duty for Agniveers, he said the decision followed feedback from the armed forces. This, he said, reflected the government’s commitment to building the services' suggestions into policy.
He expressed confidence that the initiative would further strengthen the three services. The Agnipath scheme, launched in 2022, recruits soldiers, sailors and airmen - called Agniveers - for a four-year term.
AI applications launched
At the conference, Singh launched a suite of artificial intelligence (AI) applications developed in-house by the IAF’s AI Centre of Excellence, part of the Unit for Digitization, Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Application Networking (UDAAN). The applications are meant to automate and speed up work in operations, administration and aerospace safety. They run on the IAF’s secure network.
The defence ministry described the launch as a significant step in the IAF’s technology-driven transformation.
Who attended
The minister of state for defence, Sanjay Seth, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, the defence secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, the defence production secretary, Sanjeev Kumar, and the defence finance secretary, Vishvajit Sahay, attended the inaugural session.
The two-day conference is being attended by the Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief of all IAF commands, all principal staff officers and all directors general. This year’s theme is “The Year of Empowerment: Maximizing Efficiency Through Decentralization”.
The conference gives the IAF’s senior leadership a forum to discuss operations, maintenance and administration.
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