Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa (retd), former Chief of the Indian Air Force, has called for accountability over the setbacks affecting India's domestically developed NavIC navigation system, which currently relies on just three operational satellites. His remarks pointed to what he described as a pressing need for the country to develop self-reliant defence capabilities ahead of any future armed confrontations.
Speaking at a Defence Pulse segment broadcast on a prominent news channel, Dhanoa questioned why NavIC — a navigation programme designed to reduce dependence on foreign satellite infrastructure — had not been kept operational, called for accountability over the atomic clock failures that affected the system, and noted that its absence would leave India's precision-strike capabilities intact.
Dhanoa noted that today's warplanes carry onboard inertial navigation along with electro-optical and infrared terminal guidance, and that retaining an independent system, even amid broad international opposition, represented a distinct operational benefit.
Reflecting on aerial operations in the aftermath of the 2019 Balakot strikes, Dhanoa told reporters that Indian pilots had worked out countermeasures for Pakistan's long-range beyond-visual-range missiles, adding that those methods had proven effective against the AMRAAM in practice. Pointing to the Meteor missile carried aboard Rafale jets, Dhanoa put forward the view that India's arsenal has taken on a considerably sharper edge.
Pointing to population scale as a factor in broader hostilities, he argued that precision technology carries the greatest weight in engagements confined to a narrow front or a single flashpoint. Dhanoa contended that the arithmetic shifts considerably once operations extend across a broader front, pointing out that a theatre stretching from Kashmir to Kutch would allow India's larger pool of fourth-generation fighters to weigh more heavily in the overall balance.
The retired Air Chief's remarks pointed to a preference for military engagements kept narrow in both geographic scope and timeframe. Dhanoa argued that unmanned aerial systems fall well short of manned fighter jets in terms of weapons payload — a view he grounded in the comparatively modest munitions loads that most attack drones carry relative to crewed combat aircraft — and added that neutralising drone threats over the medium to long term would require kinetic-energy solutions, including affordable interceptors and close-in defensive systems.
Reflecting on what he found hardest about a life in uniform, Dhanoa described bearing a fallen colleague's coffin as the single most demanding act a service member could be called upon to perform. Recounting the weight of bearing the coffin of Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja — a Vir Chakra recipient brought down over Kargil in 1999 while attempting to locate another IAF pilot — he spoke of the grief that had stayed with him from that day, Ahuja having served directly under his command.
Ahuja managed to eject from the aircraft, though he did not survive the period during which he remained in Pakistani detention.
