China's demonstration of physically moving disabled satellite into graveyard orbit is new threat, says Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari
Feb 24, 2022
New Delhi [India], February 24 : Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari Thursday said that China's latest demonstration of physically moving one of its disabled satellites into the graveyard orbit is bringing new threats in the space domain.
While delivering the inaugural address at the 13th Jumbo Majumdar International seminar, he said, "China's latest demonstration of physically moving one of its disabled satellites into the graveyard orbit is bringing new threats in the space domain."
"The first and foremost challenge that we will face is that of keeping pace with technology...No other field has seen such rapid transformation in technology as air-power has seen in the last 120 years of its existence. It has seen an evolution from a small biplane to space-based anti-satellite weapons," he added.
"The second challenge that I foresee is to develop doctrines, training philosophies, and concepts of operations. There is a need for doctrines to be contemporary because if the fundamental guiding principle is dated then our warfighting will also be dated," he stated.
Doctrine is an important element in the development of future force structures and capability requirements that will require capability dedicated and specialized requirements, said Chaudhari, adding "our training philosophy will need to be modern, flexible, and adaptive".
"A well-trained air warrior who is technologically sound and yet able to adapt to disruptions would serve a future force multiplier. The next step is to use the doctrines and well-trained manpower to evolve employment philosophies and concepts of operations. This would require joint planning and joint execution of plans," he said.
The next challenge will be of command and control, and another will be aerospace control, he said, adding that the primacy of who will do what cannot be determined by the pro-rata system of who has a larger mass of forces or equipment. "This process must change and it will be important to appreciate the capabilities of each service to make 2 plus 2 equal to five," he further said.
He further stated, "The fundamental strength of individual services must be brought together to deter potential enemies and decisively win the nation's war. There is a need to wage tomorrow's wars with pragmatism and not necessarily idealism. One such challenge is aerospace control."
