Vignettes of the Indian Air Force– 2024

Author: Air Vice Marshal Anil Golani (Retd), Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies

Keywords: International Exercises, HADR, First Responder, Combat Evacuation

As one year fades into memory, there is excitement and hope for a brighter and more prosperous future  ahead. At the same time, one must also look at the milestones in the year gone by so that not only are valuable lessons derived but also to ensure that the same gets recorded for posterity in the journey of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The year 2024 was a year of many firsts as far as the IAF was concerned. The year began with an all-women contingent participating in the Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2024 at the Kartavya Path in New Delhi. It also was the year Agniveer Vayu women joined the frontline squadrons of the IAF. The esteemed President’s Standard was conferred to the 45 and 221 Squadrons, and the President’s Colours was given to the 11 Base Repair Depot and the 509 Signal Unit by the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, on March 08, 2024. It is the highest honour that can be conferred on a military unit and is the first time in the history of the IAF that four units received the President’s Standard and Colours in one event simultaneously.

Following the approval for the creation of the Weapon Systems (WS) branch of the IAF in 2022, the Weapon Systems School was inaugurated on July 01, 2024 by the IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, and the first batch of officers of this branch passed out in December 2024. This new branch comprises four streams: the flying stream for operating weapon systems on airborne platforms, the remote stream to operate remotely piloted aircraft, a stream for mission commanders overseeing surface-to-air and surface-to-surface weapon systems, and the intelligence stream for processing space-based intelligence and imagery.

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