The IAF is beginning a great transition of leadership with Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh taking over as CAS on September 30, 2024. Replacing Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, who has had a stellar career, Air Marshal Singh brings to his office nearly 40 years of vast experience – and it presents a great future in the horizon for the IAF.
Born on 27 October 1964, Air Marshal Singh was commissioned to the fighter pilot stream in December 1984. During a highly accomplished career, Air Marshal Singh has flown over 5,000 hours on a wide variety of fixed and rotary wing aircraft. He is alumnus of both National Defence Academy and Defence Services Staff College. He is qualified as a Flying Instructor and Experimental Test Pilot bringing out his robust technical and operational expertise.
Air Marshal Singh’s career includes a wide variety of commands and staff appointments which have shaped strategic as well as operational outcomes for the IAF. His skill in leading complex military operations gels through commanding an operational fighter squadron and overseeing a frontline airbase. More important, perhaps, is his own experience as Project Director (Flight Test) at the National Flight Test Centre, which spearheaded the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) programme, going to underline his importance to the promotion of India’s defence capabilities on indigenous terms.
The rising Air Marshal Singh will also inherit a fast-changing security scenario in the region. Perhaps one of his biggest tasks will be to modernize the IAF’s fighter fleet in the face of the challenges along the Line of Actual Control with China. With squadron strengths of a mere 30, the IAF is miles away from the authorized 42, and it is imperative that the force gets more fighters to maintain operational readiness as well as enhance deterrence.
Air Marshal Singh is for self-reliance in defence, but balances such calls with safety concerns on national security. Singh’s approach on the delayed programme Tejas reflects pragmatic as well as vision-driven leadership under his stewardship, the IAF will catapult forward at an accelerated pace on modernisation measures so that the edge of technology is retained while preserving its combat potential.
FLEET UPGRADE Career Air Marshal Singh will have to work very hard to encourage wider collaboration within the Indian defence system, beginning from cooperation with DRDO. He also participated in the multinational wargame ‘Tarang Shakti’, which emphasizes his focus on joint operations and interoperability.
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Once Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh takes over, he will lead the IAF through a very crucial period of transformation. With his multifaceted experience in operations and leadership and strategy, along with his keenness on modernization and self-reliance, he will be able to guide the Indian Air Force forward as an effective force for protecting national security.
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