GREETING AIR WARRIORS: Air MarshalG. S. Chaudhry, Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Training Command, reviewing a guard of honour at the Tambaram IAF Station on Monday. — PHOTO: A. Muralitharan

TAMBARAM : Air Marshal G. S. Chaudhry, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, on Monday said that the operational preparedness of Indian Air Force was high and officers and airmen were exposed to the best available training modules.

Talking to reporters at the Indian Air Force Station in Tambaram on his visit here after he took over as the Training Command Chief, the officer said that there was room for improvement on this front.

Asked if the IAF had to put up with an aging fleet of training aircraft, Air Marshal Chaudhry said the training of pilots had not suffered in any way. Trainee pilots used MiG aircrafts extensively and these aircrafts were slightly difficult to fly. But after some time, the trainee pilots became skilled.

Answering the question whether Pakistan had more advanced aircrafts for its trainee pilots, Air Marshal Chaudhry said the kind of aircraft any country bought for their Air Force depended on their financial strength, budgetary allocations and other factors. He said Pakistan's plans to buy a fleet of F-16s met with some problems as a massive earthquake caused large-scale economic problems there. On the threats faced from Pakistan, the officer said that after 1971, Pakistan had not waged a war against India and even the Kargil conflict was clandestine in nature.

Pakistan was aware that its military might could not match India's and was hence trying to create problems in Jammu and Kashmir through the ISI, Air Marshal Chaudhry said, "Our operational preparedness continues to be very high," the officer said.

On issues concerning training of airmen and officers, he said the skills of people, who handled the various systems in the IAF, had to be improved, considering the technical advances being made at present. On the use of simulation in training, he replied : "Ideally, we would like to have simulation for everyone."

Noting that simulation would not equal the actual flying experience, a right mix of real time flying along with simulation would enhance the skills of pilots, Air Marshal Chaudhry said. He said they would carry out an awareness campaign among youth in south India to showcase IAF as a noble profession and its challenges.

Earlier, Air Marshal Chaudhry arrived in an Avro aircraft and reviewed a guard of honour. He was accompanied by his wife Manjit Chaudhry and received by Air Commodore M.S. Ahluwalia, Air Officer Commanding, Tambaram and his wife Ahwinder Ahluwalia.

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