The two-day seminar organised by headquarters, Maritime Air Operations, Mumbai kicked off on January 28. Air Marshal JS Walia, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Air Command, presided over the proceedings on Thursday which were aimed at understanding existing security challenges in the maritime domain and evolving strategies for future conflicts.
The seminar was attended by various serving and retired officers from the Indian Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Defence PSUs. The focus of the seminar was to evaluate expected threats in the maritime domain especially in the Indian Ocean Region and applying existing combat potential of the IAF to counter them.
The projection of our maritime military prowess has undergone major transformation due to induction of various weapon platforms and the seamless synergy between the IAF and Navy. In his remarks, Air Marshal J.S. Walia requested the participants to ensure the discussions bring out any gaps in capability against current and emerging trends in the maritime scenario. He stressed on the aspects of active joint manship between the services to ensure rapid, effective and timely response to conventional and non-conventional threats emerging from sea. The use of combat air power exploits the third dimension to safeguard maritime assets, resources and sea-based commerce in conjunction with naval surface elements, he said.
