India must leapfrog in military technologies: Air Marshal Suresh

On Rafales, he said the fighters offer phenomenal capabilities and will be a game-changer for the IAF.

“Rafales will tilt the balance in our favour a bit for now. Situational awareness is the key and this aircraft gives you more in terms of technology. The numbers will build up to 36 eventually. Numbers will be the key for IAF and technology can counter numbers only to some extent. Rafale will be a game-changer,” he said.

He added that the operationalisation of the new fighters will be accelerated.

The tactics man for IAF

Air Marshal Suresh has nearly 1000 hours on MiG 21 (T-96/75) and 1100 hours on MiG 23 BN and MiG 27 ML fighter aircraft.

Here are the key highlights of his career:

• Spent a total of eight years with the coveted Tactics & Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) in three different stints, which is a record of sorts.

• Did the first ever Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile trials and developed BVR tactics for IAF while at TACDE. This formed the basic foundation for the anti-Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) tactics followed by the IAF.

• As the Exercise Director, conducted Exercise Cope India 2004 with the United States Air Force at Gwalior. This was the first ever exercise with USAF after a gap of 40 years. IAF performed extremely well against USAF F-15 aircraft. The world sat up and took notice of IAF’s tactics and capabilities.

• He has been awarded Vayu Sena Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal. He was also appointed as the honorary Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to President of India.

• As the AOC-in-C of Southern Air Command headquartered at Thirivananthapuram, Air Marshal Suresh played a pivotal role in the relief and rescue operations during the Kerala floods of 2018. It was one of the high-intensity Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations undertaken by the IAF in the recent times.

• Successfully steered the first ever combined Guided Weapons Firing Range (GWFR) with Spyder, Akash, OSA-AK and IGLA missiles against a Manoeuvrable Expendable Aerial Target (MEAT).

• As the WAC Chief, he laid the foundation for the induction of Rafales and was instrumental in operationalisation of Chinook heavy-lift helicopter and Apache attack helicopter. Airfields in Ladakh sector was made ready for night fighter operations under his leadership.

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