New Delhi, October 5: The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Monday gave a stern warning to China and Pakistan. During a press conference, Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said that the IAF s ready for any possible conflict including a two-front war. He added, “Our position as a credible combat-ready force is vital, given the role Air Force will play towards ensuring victory in any future conflict.” Rafale Jets Conduct 'Familiarisation' Sorties Over Ladakh Amid Standoff With China Along LAC (Watch Video).

The IAF chief stressed on the need to have a robust capability to fight across the entire spectrum of warfare in the view of emerging threat scenario from Pakistan and China. He stated, “Our vision is to continue to scale up our combat capability and credibility as a force to reckon through modernisation & operational training & substantially increase indigenous equipment to achieve self-reliance and strategic autonomy.” Indian Air Force Day 2020: Rafale Fighter Jets to Fly in 'Vijay' And 'Transformer' Formations During Air Force Day Parade on October 8.

Tweet by ANI:

Speaking on the role of the IAF in the India-China border dispute in Ladakh, Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said that force is in a strong position to handle any contingency. He added, “We are very well positioned, there is no question that in any conflict scenario there, China can get the better of us.”

Statement by IAF Chief: 

The IAF chief also said that the force would commence induction of 83 LCA Mark 1As in the next five years. He stated that in the next three years Rafale and LCA Mark 1 squadrons would be operating with full strength, along with additional MiG-29 being ordered in addition to current fleets.

The IAF, recently, inducted the first batch of advanced Rafale fighter jets. The next batch of these 4.5 generation aircraft will land in India in November. Last months reports also surfaced that two fighters jets from the Tejas Final Operational Clearance (FOC) block—SP-22 and SP-23 will be rolled out from the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) manufacturing facility.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 05, 2020 01:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).