The Indian Government has approved the creation of a Weapon System Branch for officers in the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Weapon System (WS) branch would entail unification of all weapon system operators under one entity dedicated to the operational employment of all ground-based and specialist airborne weapon systems. It will be responsible for several weapon systems in the IAF and will result in savings of over Rs 3400 crores due to reduced expenditure on flying training.
The new branch would be having four sub-branches comprising of: –
- a) to operate the weapons in twin and multi-crew aircraft
- b) or handling space-based intelligence and satellite images
- c) operating remotely piloted aircraft
- d) mission commanders and operators for surface-to-ground weapons, surface-to-surface missiles, and close-in weapon systems.
The new branch would be operational either by 2023 end or early 2024.
