Today’s battle airspace defined by information superiority, split-second decision making: Deputy Chief of Air Staff

Tentagraph Newsroom·August 18, 2026

Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Tejpal Singh on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) said that while the importance of weapons and platforms will never go away, today's battlefields and battle airspace are defined by "information superiority", network-centric operations, and most importantly, split-second decision making.In his address at a seminar hosted in New Delhi, he also said success in multi-domain operations can come only if "we can reduce and shorten our OODA (observe, orient, decide and act) loop".The event hosted by think-tank Centre for Aerospace Power & Strategic Studies (CAPSS) and Indian Military Review (IMR) at the Subroto Park is themed on use and integration of surveillance systems, C4I2 (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, and Information), and electro-optics.Air Marshal Singh, who on August 1 took charge as the new Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS), said the objective today in the battlefield is to "sense better, understand faster, decide with confidence, engage precisely and assess continuously".He said this is where the experience gained from designing and operating the IACCS (Integrated Air Command and Control System) is very critical, because it is a system where the sensors, communication and the shooter are all integrated.VIDEO | Delhi: "Modern battle airspace defined by information superiority, network-centric ops and split second decision-making", says Air Marshal Tejpal Singh, Deputy Chief of Air Staff.(Full video available on PTI Videos - ) pic.twitter.com/z90xzKlczC— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 18, 2026The DCAS emphasised that the importance of platforms and weapons will "never go away", but today's battlefields and battle airspace are defined by "information superiority, network-centric operations, and most importantly, split-second decision making", and therefore, success in multi-domain operations can come only if "we can reduce and shorten our OODA loop, that is observe, orient, decide and act".While the ‘act’ part comes from the platform and the weapons it carries, the first three aspects of observe, orient and decide will come from the topics that are being discussed today in this seminar, which is surveillance, C4I2 and electro-optics, he added."The intention is to make our OODA loop shorter than that of the adversary so that we can decide and act before he can. But to achieve true operational superiority, we can no longer treat these three aspects, that is surveillance, C4I2 and electro-optics in their own silos. They need to be integrated into a system of systems," the Air Marshal said.He underlined that surveillance obviously will act as the persistent eyes and ears in all domains — land, sea, air, space, cyber, — and electro-optics will give that precision, delivering high-definition thermal imaging, multi-spectral targeting and optimal identification in various environments that are possible.He said C4I2 will act as their "central nervous system" which will integrate all these, fusing disparate sensors into real-time and actionable intelligence and situational awareness for the commander in the field.He emphasised that integration of these, is not merely an engineering tool or a goal, but it is a "combat multiplier".Interoperability, cyber security and resilience were also discussed at the seminar.The DCAS said as network-centric operations will accelerate, these network themselves may become a target, for the adversary, and "we must confront these critical operational bottlenecks".To achieve seamless jointness, it is very important that there are "standardised protocols"."We need to be self-reliant in modern communication systems. All our communications, ground sensors, the platforms, the aerial ISR assets, they all need to operate on the same network, on the same standardised protocols and speak a common digital language, which is very, very important. And therefore, interoperability must be a design principle and not an af