Drones are now claws in the sky, says IAF Chief AP Singh

Underlining the critical importance of drones and other unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in modern-day warfare, IAF Chief A P Singh on Friday said these systems are no more just eyes in the sky, rather they are now akin to “claws in the sky,” being an extension of air power.

Making this point here in his address at a defence seminar on unmanned aerial systems, the IAF chief asserted that in any modern aerial threat, complete domain awareness is the key, and there should be “total coordination” among the three services which will be operating in the same airspace. The seminar was organised by the think-tank Centre for Aerospace Power & Strategic Studies (CAPSS) and the Indian Military Review (IMR) publication.

“We have seen what happens... if you don’t have domain awareness, you don’t know where your people are and where others are. We’ve seen what happened to F-15s in Kuwait. The fratricide part. So we cannot afford to have things like that,” he said, referring to the incident on March 1 in which three US F-15E Strike Eagles went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire, according to the US CENTCOM.

The drones, UAS and counter-UAS are very relevant today; it is a reality and not something for the future, the IAF chief said. “So, there is no denying that the battlefield has shifted. We are shifting totally from those very concentrated air power to a sort of decentralised and autonomous way,” he added.

The IAF chief underlined that the UAS is an “extension of air power”. “So all the rules of air power will apply when you use the UAS, just remember that. And, there are no more eyes in the sky. They are like claws in the sky now. We’ve seen it in the recent conflicts that have taken place. And we also realised that during Operation Sindoor, and this part cannot be forgotten,” he asserted.

“And, when it comes to counter-UAS, it is like a cat-and-mouse game. You develop technology in one field; the counter technology has to develop along with it. Because that is how the game can be played, otherwise, one side will have total advantage,” the IAF chief said. “You can’t always have force versus force. It has to be force versus defence and others.” He recalled the key role of the Indian Air Force during Operation Sindoor, the decisive military action by India during May last year.

“I think we’ve done reasonably well in Op Sindoor. And why that happened was because there was coordination. Without coordination, without a central agency coordinating it. Without having that IACCS (Integrated Air Command and Control System) become a nerve centre, whether it is counter-UAS or counter-weapon or counter-aircraft, it wouldn’t have been possible,” he said.

“So, we were successful, we were successful... none of their weapons systems landed upon target. None of their UAS landed upon the target, because we were operating in a manner that is the way to go,” he added.

A swarm of drones were sent in multiple waves by the adversary during the nearly four-day conflict, which was countered effectively by the Indian forces.

On the importance of an integrated air defence system, he said structures have been put in place so that “every time, we are able to counter them in that manner”. The IAF chief also spoke of the much talked about cost asymmetry that military drones have brought in to battlefield, but asserted that one must also consider that the “cost is not of the weapon system that is coming to hit, it is the cost of the system that it is going to hit”.

In his address to the gathering of senior military officials, defence and strategic affairs experts and military scholars, the IAF chief emphasised that the “future is manned and unmanned teaming”, in which both options are used together.

“You can’t take man out of the loop. You may not have man in the loop, maybe you have man on the loop. But it cannot be out of the loop totally. I don’t think in near future, in next decade or so, I don’t think so we are in that stage,” he said.

He said that the battlefield survivability of UAS is still a concern and making our system survive in the battle is something we need to think about.