Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari stated that the Indian Air Force was well equipped and prepared to fight any two-front threat scenario involving China and Pakistan on Wednesday. He said India’s readiness would remain unaffected by China’s enhanced infrastructure. 

Responding to China’s presence near the Line of Actual control, he said,  “China continues its deployment at three airbases in the Tibet region. We are fully prepared to deal with any situation on our side. China’s capability to launch multiple high altitude missions would remain weak,” as quoted by ANI.

He added that the China-Pakistan partnership need not be feared and “the only worry is western technology passing from Pakistan to China.”

This comes as he was speaking at a press conference in the lead up to the 89th anniversary of the Indian Air Force, which is scheduled to happen on Friday, October 8.

Chaudhari insisted that the IAF was committed to the theaterisation programme and looking forward to integrating the three armed forces. “The joint planning and execution of operations by the three services will result in a maximum increase in our net combat capability,” he said.

He added that the “strengths of each force should be taken into account and deliberations on the subject are underway”.

Chaudhari said, “IAF’s offensive strike capability has become more potent with the integration of new weapons and the induction of Rafale and Apache jets.” He further touched dupon IAF’s steps towards protecting India’s infrastructure from cyber attacks.

As far as India’s drone capabilities are concerned, Chaudhari stated that the “air force will give contracts to startups to develop swarm drones based on a competition. They will also allow startups to design counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), as part of IAF’s effort to develop indigenous anti-drone capability”.

An Indian Air Force official in Coimbatore has been charged with sexual assault of a female colleague on September 10. On the alleged rape case in Coimbatore, he said “no two finger test was conducted. Disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty in the probe into the case.”