India's Twin-Seat TEJAS trainer variant during a sortie with a trainee pilot

New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said on Sunday that "as we march into the 100th year of the Indian Air Force", the level of indigenization will grow by leaps and bounds.

Addressing the conference commemorating 75 years of the Aeronautical Society of India, Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said, "The industry definitely plays a very vital role, and we, as the customers of most of the products of the Indian industry, are quite confident of the leaps and strides that have been taken in the indigenization of a huge number of products in the country."

"We're quite confident that as we march into the 100th year of the Indian Air Force, which will be 10 years from today, and the 100th year of independence, 25 years from today, I'm sure we will see the level of indigenization really grow by leaps and bounds," he said.

He further said that this technologically intensive business of aviation and, aeronautics 25-year period may rather too long for us to fathom the changes that can happen in this period.

"The jump in technology capability when it comes to users like us, where we need to reduce the decision-making cycles, where we need to reduce the Sensor to Shooter times. This leap of technology from 4G to 5G, means a lot to us. We can only fathom what 6G will bring to the table," he added.

Earlier on November 18, President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the inaugural session of a two-day International Conference-cum-Exhibition on 'Aerospace and Aviation in 2047', organised by the Aeronautical Society of India to commemorate its 75th anniversary.

In her address, President Murmu said that though the country has made long strides, there also remain many challenges. The aerospace sector has been undergoing a transformative phase by bracing up for speed and runway-independent technologies for defence purposes, air mobility and transportation.

She noted that there is a need for upskilling and reskilling of human resources in the Aerospace sector to tackle these issues in the future.

The AeSI was established in 1948 with the Prime Minister as Patron-in-chief to promote aerospace and aviation in the country. The objective of the society is to promote the advancement and nationwide diffusion of the knowledge of aeronautical sciences and aircraft engineering among various streams including industry, academia and research laboratories.

The society is represented by distinguished aerospace professionals from research organisations, aerospace industries and academia. Former Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy is its present President and Chairman, ISRO S Somanath is the President-Elect.