Smruti D

The film began with a fighter aircraft taking flight. By the first five frames of the film, the Air Force’s theme for this year’s Air Force Day was clear—Atmanirbhar and Saksham (self-reliant and able). The seven-minute short film played soon after the new Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari went up to the stage and greeted the audience. The film walked the audience through 89 years of the IAF’s journey by showcasing different aircraft in its fleet over the years. The movie also conveyed how the air force was increasingly equipping itself with Indian aircraft and defence systems such as missiles, radar systems, AWACS and swarm drone technology to ‘fight future wars’ among others, in accordance with its theme.

The film spoke of a number of exercises that the IAF undertakes with different countries around the world. The video emphasized that ‘IAF’s role in Ladakh region, bordering China, was extremely crucial’ with visuals of Apache helicopters flying sorties in the region in the background. The video also showed visuals of HADR ops that the air force undertook while the Covid19 virus was on rampage, and even recently when Indians had to be evacuated from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.

After the film ended, the Chief spoke about the force’s future trajectory in terms of challenges and technologies. At the event, the audience was seated on alternate seats and care was taken that the auditorium was not jam packed with attendees. Journalists from other popular media were present at the event.

“Since its birth in 1932, the Indian Air Force has come a long way in having transformed into a potent combat ready air force with the ability to conduct air operations across the entire spectrum,” he said. Without mentioning China’s growing aggression, the air chief said, “The past few years have been unprecedented on many counts and those series of events have brought forth several unique security challenges. An uncertain and rapidly changing geopolitical environment makes it incumbent for all components of our national security architecture to be ready to respond proactivel