Weapons systems school to meet IAF challenges

NEW DELHI: To recalibrate and transform its combat training towards a specialised cadre, the Indian Air Force has set up the Weapon Systems School (WSS) at its Begumpet station in Hyderabad.

“The WSS will impart contemporary effects-based training and prepare officers of the newly formed branch as per its requirements,” the IAF said.

With the inauguration of the WSS, aviation cadets of the Weapon Systems (WS) branch will begin their second semester of training at the institute.

IAF chief VR Chaudhari inaugurated the school on Monday. He said that with the creation of the WS branch, operators of land and specialised weapon systems will be brought under one roof, significantly enhancing the combat capabilities of the IAF.

The Chief of Air Staff urged the instructors to make their pioneering role in a newly created branch the pillars on which the entire edifice of the envisaged training regime would stand firmly and provide decisive air power. While congratulating the founding members of the school, the CAS urged all personnel to make the school a nodal centre for weapons systems training in the country.

The new branch will have four tracks: a flight track to operate weapons and systems on two-seater, multi-crew aircraft such as the Sukhoi-30 MKI and C-130J; a remote track to operate remotely piloted aircraft; mission commanders and operators for surface-to-air and surface-to-surface weapons systems; and an intelligence track to manage space intelligence and imagery.

The branches of IAF include Piloting (pilot), Aeronautical Engineering (electronics and mechanical), Education, Administration, Logistics, Accounting and Meteorology.

Air Marshal Premkumar Krishnaswamy is the first Commandant of the Weapon Systems School. In keeping with the importance of the new institution, the inauguration ceremony was also attended by Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, and other senior IAF officers including the Commandant of the Air Force Academy, the Commandant of the Air War College.

The formation of the WS Branch was announced by the CAS during the Air Force Day Parade celebrations on 8 October 2022. The first batch of 33 WS Officer Cadets joined the Academy (IAF) Dundigal for joint training with the Land and Air Branch Trainee Officer Cadets for 6 months. They have now joined the WSS for Branch Training; they will be commissioned in December this year as Weapon Systems Branch Officers.