Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Outcomes in space domain will probably decide eventual victor in future conflicts: IAF chief

Space-based assets significantly enhance the potency of air power, he noted.

Outcomes in space domain will probably decide eventual victor in future conflicts: IAF chief

Space-based assets significantly enhance the potency of air power and outcomes in the space domain will probably decide the eventual victor in future conflicts, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari said on Tuesday.

While traditional communication safeties with geosynchronous orbits have proved their worth due to longer service life and wide area of coverage, the communication satellites in low and medium earth orbits have their own advantages, the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief said in his speech at ‘Geo Intelligence 2022’.

“Therefore, we are witnessing a highly proliferated low earth orbit with multiple commercial players entering this segment,” he noted.

In due course, this technology of low earth orbit satellites will evolve and we shall see reduced manufacturing and launching costs which will favour the shift towards this concept, he said.

“While capability enhancement in multiple domains of space application is the way forward, I strongly feel that this evolution can only be fast-tracked through increased civil military fusion, which is a blend of institutes, industries, startups, academia, research and development and test and evaluation laboratories,” Chaudhari noted.

The Defence Space Agency, which is the lead agency for aggregating the requirements of the armed forces, would play a key role in synergising civil military cooperation to achieve the desired capabilities, he said.

This would mandate increased interplay between the government and commercial space agencies, he added. Like the air power’s effect on surface battles, aerospace power is fast emerging as a new paradigm which will greatly influence all surface activities, he said.

“The outcomes in aerospace domain will probably decide the eventual victor in future conflicts,” he noted.

Newer technologies have made the IAF realign our planning of resources, strategies and ideas, he mentioned.

“In the IAF, we are using terrestrial and space-enabled capabilities to ensure high degree of network centricity,” he said.

Space-based assets significantly enhance the potency of air power, he noted.

“These assets provide increased battlefield transparency which is extremely helpful in discerning enemy’s intentions,” he said.

The IAF’s strategy is to fully integrate the air and space capabilities to have a common picture of the aerospace medium and to enable optimum force application, he noted.

“We see space as the natural extension of the air medium and reaffirm our need to adapt to this new environment rapidly,” he said.

(PTI)

More For You

Shabana Mahmood

Newly appointed home secretary Shabana Mahmood arrives at Number 10 at Downing Street as Keir Starmer holds a cabinet reshuffle on September 5, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Shabana Mahmood named home secretary, Lammy deputy to Starmer in major reshuffle

Highlights:

  • David Lammy becomes deputy prime minister while keeping foreign affairs brief
  • Angela Rayner resigned after admitting underpaid property tax
  • Lisa Nandy to stay on as culture secretary
  • Reshuffle marks first major shake-up of Starmer’s government

SHABANA MAHMOOD has been appointed home secretary in a major reshuffle of prime minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet following the resignation of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

Keep ReadingShow less
Epping protests

The protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping triggered a series of demonstrations across the country during heightened tensions over immigration. (Photo: Getty Images)

Asylum seeker convicted of sex assaults case that led to protests

AN ETHIOPIAN asylum seeker, whose arrest in July led to protests outside a hotel near London where he and other migrants were housed, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and another woman.

The protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, about 20 miles (30 km) from London, triggered a series of demonstrations across the country during heightened tensions over immigration.

Keep ReadingShow less
Angela-Rayner-Getty

Rayner, 45, announced she would step down as deputy prime minister, housing minister and deputy leader of the Labour Party. (Photo: Getty Image)

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner resigns after admitting tax mistake

Highlights

  • Rayner steps down after admitting underpaying property tax
  • Resigns as deputy prime minister, housing minister and Labour deputy leader
  • Becomes eighth minister to leave Starmer’s government, and the most senior so far
  • Her departure comes as Labour trails Reform UK in opinion polls

DEPUTY prime minister Angela Rayner resigned on Friday after admitting she had underpaid property tax on a new home. Her resignation is a fresh setback for prime minister Keir Starmer, who had initially stood by her.

Keep ReadingShow less
Migrants boat
Migrants swim to board a smugglers' boat in order to attempt crossing the English channel off the beach of Audresselles, northern France. (Photo: Getty Images)

UK pauses refugee family reunion route amid migration reforms

Highlights:

  • Refugee family reunion scheme suspended as part of migration reforms
  • Nearly 21,000 visas issued in the past year, mainly to women and children
  • New rules to include contribution requirements and longer waiting periods
  • Government expects first migrant returns to France later this month

THE GOVERNMENT has announced it is suspending a scheme that allowed families of refugees in the UK to apply to join their relatives, as part of efforts to cut irregular migration.

Keep ReadingShow less
Angela-Rayner-Reuters

Angela Rayner arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street on September 2, 2025. (Photo credit: Reuters)

Rayner's future uncertain as report on stamp duty case expected soon

DEPUTY prime minister Angela Rayner is awaiting the outcome of an investigation into her underpayment of stamp duty on a property in East Sussex, with the findings expected soon.

Prime minister Keir Starmer said he anticipated the report, led by ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus, would be delivered “pretty quickly.” He added: “Then, of course, I will act on whatever the report is that's put in front of me.”

Keep ReadingShow less