Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today asked the Indian Air Force to develop dedicated doctrines for emerging domains of warfare and added success in future conflicts would not be dependent on the number of aircraft alone.Addressing the IAF Commanders’ conference, he said “victory in future conflicts would depend not merely on the number of aircraft, but also on technological sophistication, speed of response and precision of preparations.”The minister’s statement comes at a time when the IAF is looking to rapidly add numbers to its depleting fleet of fighter jets and adding new technology to provide speed in decision making.He wanted the IAF Commanders to make “emerging challenges” as a core priority, with focus on integrating them into institutional thinking, planning and operational processes.Rajnath also called upon the Indian Air Force (IAF) to develop dedicated doctrines and architectures for emerging domains of warfare, including electronic, cyber and space. A doctrine is the fundamental set of principles and guidelines that armed forces use to guide their actions.An “element of surprise” is needed to maintain operational readiness against conventional and emerging threats arising from rapid technological advancements and the evolving nature of modern warfare, he said, adding that intelligence and surveillance capabilities needed to be enhanced continuously.“Our intelligence and surveillance mechanisms must be further strengthened and operational preparedness enhanced,” he said while commending the IAF for effectively implementing its operational methods during and after Operation Sindoor.As part of this conference, the Defence Minister launched a suite of artificial intelligence (AI) applications developed in-house by the IAF’s Al Centre of Excellence of the Unit for Digitisation, Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Application Networking (UDAAN). The applications will be utilised to automate and expedite tasks across the domains of operations, administration and aerospace safety, and are deployed on the IAF’s secure network. The initiative marks a significant milestone in the IAF’s pursuit of technology-driven transformation and enhanced operational capabilities.The theme of this year’s IAF conference is ‘The Year of Empowerment: Maximising Efficiency Through Decentralisation’. The conference provides a forum to the senior leadership of the IAF to discuss critical issues pertaining to operations, maintenance and administration.