IAF chief Vivek Ram Chaudhari undertook a sortie at the Adampur Air Force Station. The sortie comes during an ongoing air exercise.

Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said that air power will play a very vital and critical role in deciding the outcomes of the conflict as he took off in an IAF Sukhoi Su-30MKI jet.

"There's no doubt that in any future conflict anywhere in the globe, air power will play a very vital and critical role in deciding the outcomes of the conflict. Such exercises give us the opportunity to hone our skills "quoted the IAF chief.

Earlier, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari called for the development of a smaller version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile for smaller fighter jets such as the MiG-29, Mirage-2000 and the indigenous light combat aircraft TEJAS, stressing that the weapon can be used effectively for land attack.

Currently, only the IAF’s Sukhoi-30MKI fighters are equipped with the air-launched version of the BrahMos, a 2.5-ton missile that flies at nearly three times the speed of sound. The smaller missile, BrahMos-Next Generation, is expected to weigh 1.2 tons and be more lethal than the current air-launched version, officials aware of the matter said.

(With Inputs From WION)