INDIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEFS ON
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SP's Aviation - ISSUE No 09-09

Issue Features

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  Technology - Reach Beyond the Sky
  By Our Staff Correspondent

  India’s economic growth and technological stature present the opportunity for the IAF to push for creating an adequate military space capability as dictated by future projections

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  Airlines - Low Cost Catches On
  By Our Staff Correspondent

  The Indian faith in the LCC model—initiated by Air Deccan, kept alive by IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir and recently rejuvenated by all the three full service carriers—is vindicated by recent figures

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  Subroto Mukerjee (1911 – 1960)
  By Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha, Goa

  On April 1, 1954, Mukerjee was appointed Commanderin-Chief of the Indian Air Force—the first Indian to hold the post. In 1955, when the title of Commander-in-Chief was replaced by Chief of the Air Staff, Mukerjee automatically became the IAF’s first CAS.

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  Operations - Turn Green
  By Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha

  Green business aviation is a continuous process of increasing efficiency, as well as reducing emissions, mainly through technological innovation

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  VCAS Interview
  By SP's Team

  We hope for timely induction of the required weapon systems

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  Days of the Manned Aircraft are Numbered...
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

  Despite limitations, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles offer a number of advantages, foremost being the capability to join battle without exposing a pilot’s life to danger

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  ...but UAVs Can Never Be Licenced to Kill
  By Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia

  There is general reluctance to bestow on even fully automated UAVs the final Authority to fire on a Target—the computer can pick targets so long as a human being pulls the trigger or vice versa

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  Force Multipliers - Maximum Advantage
  By Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha

  In years to come, the credibility of the IAF, and how it acquits itself in combat, will depend heavily on its force multipliers—more so, in how precisely it conducts air operations

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  Weapon Systems - The Indispensables
  By Air Marshal (Retd) N. Menon

  In air defence operations, radars are vital for detecting hostile targets. On the other hand, stealth technology and ‘electronic counter-measure’ suites that evade or mislead radars have improved the survivability of attacking missions.

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  Communications - Webbed Solution
  By Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia

  Riding on a combination of mediums, like fibre-optics and satcom, the IAF could become capable of conducting network-centric air operations

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  MMRCA Deal - Flight Evaluation
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey, Bangalore

  Lockheed Martin fields the F-16
  In September, US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin flew the equivalent of an F-16IN Super Viper into Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport at Bangalore

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  Operations - A Stitch In Time
  By Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Fali Homi Major

  Future warfare will assume many forms and will be unpredictable. Coping with the changing security environment is the challenge before the IAF.

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  Combat Force - Forecast for 2030
  By Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia

  Hopefully by then, the Medium Combat Aircraft and the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft would constitute the high performance category in the IAF

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  Human Resource – Job Satisfaction
  By Air Marshal (Retd) N. Menon

  To instill military discipline and pride in the blue uniform, the IAF needs to formulate innovative and creative HR policies in sync with the evolving socioeconomic environment

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  Adventure – Mission Seven Summits
  By Directorate of Adventure Air HQ, IAF

  Pursuant to its efforts to make an impact on the mountaineering front, the IAF plans to conquer the ‘Seven Summits’—the highest peak in each of the seven continents

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  A Word from Editor
  By Jayant Baranwal - Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

• Chinese Chicanery
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey