Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes asked the Air Force Commanders to maintain the highest state of vigil, keeping in view the present security environment. "The events post September 11, 2001 made the world aware of the ugly face of terrorism, something we have been going through for decades. There is no improvement in the situation as regards cross-border terrorism and our troops will remain deployed to meet any exigencies," he said. The Defence Minister was addressing the Air Force Commanders on the inaugural day of the week long biannual Commanders’ Conference in New Delhi.

Mr George Fernandes assured that all support from the Government would be made available in terms of resources and expedient decision making process to meet the operational requirements of the IAF. The Government is committed to take immediate action on the short-comings which have resulted in some delays in the procurement process over the years and also ensures that such situations do not arise in future.

The Defence Minister said that during his recent visit to Russia, important decisions had been taken to expedite the supply of spares and also to put in place a monitoring process. He said the issue of 5th generation combat aircraft and multi-role medium range transport aircraft was also discussed.

Earlier, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy in his presentation outlined the efforts being made to optimise the operational preparedness of the IAF. He said the conference provides an ideal opportunity for the IAF to define the road map for the future, discuss new concepts and to work out ways to manage the resources when the forces are deployed. He said, despite deployment the IAF was able to improve the total flying effort during the last financial year vis-a-vis the previous year. The focus would now be on higher serviceability state of the equipment which is expected to result in further enhanced operational status.

Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief of the seven Air Force commands and the Principal Staff Officers at Air Headquarters attended the biannual Commanders’ Conference. The conference provided an opportunity for the Commanders to review the operational plans in keeping with the changing security scenario.