New Delhi: Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Amapreet Singh, on Thursday, talked about the role of the Air Force in combat operations. While speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit 2025, the Air Force chief stressed the need to start designing and developing defence equipment in India and not just only producing. He used the famous dialogue from Salman Khan's movie, 'Wanted' to highlight the Indian forces' resolute to maximise the use of make-in-India equipment and advice to defence manufacturers to fulfil their commitments on time.
"Any kind of operations that we do, we can't do it without air power, and I think that has been proved very well during this operation (Sindoor) also. We cannot just talk about producing in India. We need to start designing and developing in India also and when it comes to producing in numbers, the capacity comes in," Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said.
"This trust between the forces and the industry to continue. We need to have communication continue. We need to be open with each other. This relationship does not break down anywhere," he added.
Invoking Salman's dialogue from the movie 'Wanted' the air Chief said, "Ek baar jo humne commitment kar diya to fir, main apne aap ki bhi nahi sunta…(Once I have committed something, I don't even listen to myself)."
Air Chief Marshal Singh also raised serious concerns over continuous delays in defence projects. He highlighted also the systemic issue of unrealistic timelines and their impact on operational readiness.
The Air Chief Marshal pointed at the recurring pattern of delays in project execution and criticised the practice of committing to unachievable deadlines.
His remarks come in the context of the reported ongoing challenges with projects like the delivery of the aircraft, which has faced criticism from the Air Chief for failing to meet timelines.
"Timelines is a big issue... Not a single project that I can think of has been completed on time. This is something that we have to look at," Singh stated, adding, "Why should we promise something that cannot be achieved? While signing the contract itself, sometimes we are sure that it is not going to come up. But we just sign the contract. Then the process gets vitiated," said Air Marshal Singh.
He hailed Operation Sindoor as a "national victory", emphasising the operation's success as a testament to the collective efforts of the armed forces, agencies, and every Indian citizens.
