Col Satish Singh Lalotra
slalotra4729@gmail.com
Of all the three services of the armed forces, the air power, aka the air force of any nation, has the quickest reach, lethality, shock effect, and charisma within itself to take a battle to its logical end-and that too on its own terms, provided this arm of the nation has been nurtured well both during its peacetime and wartime requirements. What air power can do in a short air/land engagement was very amply demonstrated during the not-too-recent ‘OP Sindoor’ when the IAF, staying well within national boundaries, was able to impose such a stranglehold on its archrival PAF (Pakistan Air Force) that most of their fighter aircraft were not able to come even to their weapon release ranges. And the few that did attempt to do so went back with damage that was irreparable.
The icing on the cake was the recent assertion from none other than the Vice Chief of Air Staff of IAF that it took less than even 50 (fifty) weapons fired from the Air Force to compel Pakistan to the negotiating table and a magnificent ‘conflict elimination’ during OP Sindoor. The superlative power of the Air Force was unleashed for the first time in the ‘Great War’ (1st WW) when typical biplanes in human history, with rudimentary technical prowess, could still turn the tide of many a battle effortlessly. The German Air Force, still reeling under the punishing dictates of the ‘Treaty of Versailles’ as well as a watchful eye of the ‘League of Nations,’ in 1937 intervened in the Spanish Civil War, thus cutting its teeth for future operational engagements.
The blitzkrieg from the skies unleashed by the Luftwaffe on Poland is a benchmark in aerial warfare that still has few equals to date. Can the world forget how the future of England hung by a slender thread that was held taut by the dauntless pilots of the ‘Fighter & Bomber Command’ of the RAF during the 2WW in the ‘Battle of Britain’? Similarly, the ‘air bridge’ that was established in October 1947 by a still-fledgling IAF during the tribal invasion unleashed by a rogue nation, aka Pakistan, is testimony to the fact that J&K is still with India.
Welcome to the ‘Eighth of October,’ when the IAF proudly displays its myriad capabilities acquired over decades to its countrymen as a mark of its birth anniversary cum foundation that was laid circa 08 October 1932 at ‘Drig Road,’ Karachi, now in Pakistan. Its first aircraft flight came into being on 01 April 1933 with six RAF-trained officers and nineteen ‘Havai Sepoys’ (air soldiers). The aircraft inventory consisted of four ‘Westland Wapiti II A’ army cooperation biplanes at Drig Road as the ‘A’ Flight nucleus of the planned Number 1 (Army Cooperation) Squadron. Four and a half years later, this ‘A’ Flight went into action for the first time from Miranshah in North Waziristan (now in Pakistan).
By the time 2WW broke out in 1939 and ended in 1945, the fledgling IAF had cut its teeth in many of the operational theatres of war, with its pilots etching their names with glory. As mentioned earlier, 08 October-India celebrating its IAF Day-is not just commemorating its chequered history, but also a tribute to the courage, commitment, and professionalism of the men and women donning the blues. Playing a decisive role in safeguarding the national frontiers during wars, humanitarian missions, and disaster relief operations has been the sine qua non of the IAF.
Playing a decisive role in the Indo-Pak wars of 1947, 1965, and 1971, the air power of India was at its finest when, on 14 December 1971, the combined air strike led by a package of MiG-21s and Hunter fighter bombers on the Government House in Dhaka, where a closed-door meeting of Pakistan’s top functionaries was in progress, capitulated Pakistan’s will to fight on. Not only this, maybe the IAF is the sole air power in the world that has been supporting one of the longest and most brutal operations still in continuation at the highest battlefield of the world-‘OP Meghdoot’ at Siachen Glacier.
‘OP Safed Sagar,’ launched during the Kargil War of 1999, with the IAF brilliantly targeting one of the biggest supply nodes of Pakistan, ‘Munto Dhalo,’ with precision and laser-guided munitions, will go down in the history of the IAF as the final coup de grâce dealt to Pakistan’s effort to shore up its supply lines. Not to forget targeting Tiger Hill and numerous other Pakistani posts, the IAF had complete sway over the area of operations in an undeniable manner, thereby consistently demonstrating its intrinsic capability to defend its national frontiers at all costs.
As mentioned above, this year’s IAF Day is being rung loudly in the backdrop of ‘OP Sindoor.’ The country has witnessed a strategic cum tactical metamorphosis of its air power, benchmarked against some of the most stringent tenets of aerial warfare. Nowhere in the world would one find an example of its armed forces steadfastly following national dictates mandated by its top leadership, very often at the cost of incurring some losses in skirmishes.
The fact that the IAF accepted the top national leadership’s goal not to escalate the skirmishes by not undertaking SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defences) and going deep into Pakistan’s hinterland by striking its very heart of strategic assets like Nur Khan, Sargodha, Bholari, Rahim Yar Khan, and Jacobabad air bases, etc., often at the peril of losses of its own air assets, shows the perfect sync of politico-military understanding. The most dangerous moment in OP Sindoor, in which the Pakistani hypersonic missile ‘Fatah-2,’ heading for New Delhi, was intercepted near Sirsa in Haryana by the IACCS (Integrated Air Command and Control System), shows the IAF in its real elements and remains the abiding theme of this force-‘TOUCH THE SKY WITH GLORY.’
It also showed the world the ‘Atmanirbhar’ concept, blowing to smithereens the combined military support afforded by India’s detractors, i.e., China and Turkey, to Pakistan during this operation. This Air Force Day, it will be the endeavour of the IAF to remind Indians with a resounding degree of authenticity that it has changed the doctrine of Indian air power in the subcontinent from just bombing and dogfights to multidomain warfare, as was seen and heard a few months back.
While we often admire the past heroics of the IAF resoundingly, juxtaposing them against this year’s performance of 2025 in the backdrop of OP Sindoor, ‘Air Force Day’ carries greater resonance. The fly-pasts, combat manoeuvres, and displays of Rafales, SU-30 MKIs, Tejas, and C-130Js are not just ceremonial-they are a reassurance to the nation that its skies remain secure.
This year of 2025, when India watches the 93rd IAF Day unfold its wings, it is a reminder once again, after a passage of merely five months, how, without even crossing international borders, the Indian Air Force, by its ‘Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS),’ was able to stymie Pakistan’s operational ideas during ‘OP Sindoor’ and showcase to the world at large its ability to inflict punitive strikes that were beyond the imagination of our western neighbour.
As the roar of jet engines of its fighter bombers reverberates over the Indian skies during this Air Force Day, the IAF conveys a subtle message-‘The guardians of the skies are alert, prepared, and unyielding.’ From ‘OP Sindoor’ to ‘Drig Road’ in Karachi, from where the IAF started its journey way back in 1932, is a reminder once again that while technology evolves and adversaries change, one constant remains-the indomitable spirit of the Indian Air Force.
On this day, the nation bows in gratitude to its air warriors, past and present. And as the tricolour soars high, one truth echoes from the Himalayas to the oceans-the IAF is not just a service-it is a shield, a sword, and a symbol of India’s pride.
(The writer is retired army officer.)
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