IAF Chief RKS Bhadauria meets President Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, on Monday, in a first after his appointment as the Air Chief, met President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Kovind also tweeted about the meeting after a short while. Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria took over as the 26th chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, who demitted office on his superannuation, on September 30.

He is all set to take part in the celebrations of the 87th Indian Air Force Day on October 8, the preparations for which are going on in full swing. He, recently, also called for a press conference where he spoke about the achievements and yet-to-be commenced initiatives of the Indian Air Force. 

READ | IAF Chief commits to taking legacy of indigenous development forward

Air Chief's press conference

During the press conference, Air Chief Bhadauria had spoken about the details of the inventory and had also said that several steps were being taken to build up the strength of the fighter fleets of IAF. He had further talked about the mid-life Mirage-2000, MiG-29 and the Jaguar fleet and said the upgrade programme is right on track.

Furthermore, he had mentioned that the MiG29 is also progressing well and the 220MKI is also been expected to get an update in the near future. According to his statement during the conference, in helicopters, the IAF is modifying Mi-17 and Mi-5 to provide Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability and be suited with some warfare capability. Additionally, the Mi-17 and Mi-17V are also being updated and in the new face, they will have glass cockpit, avionics, and some Electronic Warfare (EW) capability.

READ | IAF in talks with Russia to finalize procurement of Sukhoi jets

While talking about his new post, he had said that he intends to carry forward the legacy that has been bestowed upon him, further adding that India is progressively nearing the goal of a robust network of centric operational capabilities.

READ | Name of IAF officer killed by Yasin Malik to be on War Memorial