Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, embarked on his final operational sortie in the cockpit of the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft from the Jodhpur airbase on Sunday, marking an evocative milestone in his distinguished military aviation career. The flight stands as the Air Chief's farewell sortie ahead of his scheduled retirement on October 31, concluding more than four decades of dedicated service in the Indian Air Force. Choosing the homegrown single-engine multirole fighter for his final airborne mission serves as a potent endorsement of India's indigenous aerospace capabilities and underscores the top commander's enduring commitment to self-reliance in national defense.
The choice of the Tejas fighter jet for his concluding flight holds profound significance for both the air force leadership and the nation's domestic aviation manufacturing sector. Air Chief Marshal Singh, an accomplished experimental test pilot with thousands of flying hours across diverse operational platforms, has maintained a long and intimate professional association with the Tejas program. Throughout his tenure in senior command positions—including his leadership as Vice Chief of the Air Staff and later as the 28th Chief of the Air Staff—he has championed the operational induction of indigenous platforms while vigorously pushing for manufacturing discipline, enhanced delivery timelines, and higher production efficiency from defense public sector enterprises like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Taking off from the strategic desert base in Jodhpur, the final sortie recalled previous high-profile demonstrations where the Air Chief took to the skies in the Tejas during premier multilateral military drills, such as Exercise Tarang Shakti. During those engagements, his airborne sorties alongside fellow service vice chiefs sent clear signals to global participants regarding the operational maturity and tactical readiness of the Indian-built fighter. In commanding the supersonic jet for his farewell mission, the air force chief reiterated his core message that future squadron strength and air dominance must rest on a solid foundation of domestic design, sovereign research, and homegrown production rather than sustained dependence on international suppliers.
The timing of this farewell sortie arrives during a critical strategic phase for the Indian Air Force, as the service navigates fleet modernization and squadron restructuring. With the phased retirement of legacy platforms like the MiG-21 after decades of active frontline duty, the urgency to induct advanced light combat aircraft has taken center stage in defense planning. Air Chief Marshal Singh has consistently pointed out that maintaining adequate fighter squadron strength requires an accelerated induction cadence of thirty-six to forty modern fighters annually. While championing the capabilities of the Tejas Mk1 and upcoming variants, he has maintained a frank and pragmatic stance, repeatedly urging state-run aerospace manufacturers to overcome supply-chain bottlenecks and expedite aircraft deliveries to prevent operational gaps along northern and western frontiers.
Beyond his technical mastery as a test pilot, Air Chief Marshal Singh's tenure has been characterized by strategic clarity regarding future air combat dynamics. From pushing forward critical procurement decisions under the multi-role fighter aircraft framework to shaping doctrine around unmanned aerial systems and multi-layered air defense networks, his leadership steered the force through complex geopolitical shifts. His farewell flight in the Tejas stands not only as a personal tribute to a storied flying career that began in late 1984, but as a symbolic handing over of the baton, leaving behind an air force firmly focused on modernization, tactical readiness, and indigenous strength.