IAF to rename itself ‘Indian Air and Space Force’

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to imminently rename itself as the Indian Air and Space Force or IASF.

After formulating a new doctrine that focuses on effective exploitation of the “air and space continuum” and a “Space Vision 2047”, IAF has now explained to the government in detail the rationale of being renamed as IASF.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at a routine memorial lecture last year, had stated the force needed to become an aerospace force to safeguard India from future challenges.

Delivering the 37th Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal Memorial Lecture at New Delhi in May 2022, Singh had declared that the exploitation of space by India’s adversaries for military use, would have an ‘adverse’ effect and one which the country needed to ‘identify and be fully prepared’ to counter.

“As students of military affairs and geopolitics, it is our duty to keep anticipating the nature of future wars,” Singh had stated, adding that space was one area that presented the IAF and the military in general, an impending challenge.

IAF has cranked up efforts to fully exploit the final frontier of space rather than restricting it to the existing ISR (intelligence, surveilla-nce and reconnaissance), communication and navigation capabilities.

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