On Air Force Day, IAF chief announces new weapon system: All you need to know

As India celebrates the 90th anniversary of Air Force Day, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Saturday announced the creation of a new operational branch of weapons system for officers “the first time since independence”. The celebrations, being held at Chandigarh's Sukhna Lake complex, will showcase a grand air show later today with nearly 80 aircraft participating.

“On this historic occasion, it's my privilege to announce that the govt has approved the creation of a weapon system branch for the officers in the Indian Air Force,” Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari said during the ceremonial parade on the 90th anniversary celebration of the Indian Air Force, in Chandigarh.

All you need to know about the new weapons system:

• The new weapon system branch will have four categories of sub-streams – flying, surface, remote, intelligence.
• It aims to man the specialised streams of surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air-missiles, remotely piloted aircraft, and weapon system operators in twin and multi-crew aircraft.
• This is the first time since India's independence that a new operational branch of the weapon system is being created, the IAF chief announced at the ceremony.
• The branch will induct specialised cadre officers for handling the latest weapon systems.
• The new branch will be able to handle all types of latest weapon systems in the force and will reduce the expenditure on flying training, resulting in savings worth ₹3400 crore of the air force fund.

Chaudhari made the announcement at the ceremonial parade ahead of the grand fly-past scheduled to begin at 2:45pm. Several made-in-India aircraft and choppers will participate in the show – including the newly inducted ‘Prachand’ light combat helicopters.

The IAF chief inspected the parade, which was followed by a march-past. Air-Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command, Air Marshal Sreekumar Prabhakaran was among senior IAF officers present on the occasion.