Rajnath Singh Opens Air Force Commanders' Conference 2026 in Delhi

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke at the Air Force Commanders' Conference in New Delhi on 12 November 2026. He asked the armed forces to sharpen both the offensive and the defensive sides of the 'element of surprise', so that readiness holds against familiar threats and against the newer ones thrown up by fast-moving technology and a changing style of warfare.

Theme of the conference

The gathering runs for two days and carries the theme 'The Year of Empowerment: Maximising Efficiency Through Decentralisation'. It gives the senior leadership of the Indian Air Force a forum for questions of operations, maintenance and administration.

AI applications launched

The Raksha Mantri released a set of Artificial Intelligence applications written in-house by the AI Centre of Excellence of UDAAN - the Unit for Digitisation, Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Application Networking. The tools sit on the Air Force's secure network and are meant to automate and quicken work in three areas: operations, administration and aerospace safety.

What the Defence Minister told the commanders

• Strengthen intelligence and surveillance further, and pick out threats before they unfold.
• Conflict today reaches past the traditional battlefield into non-contact domains, where missiles, drones and advanced weapon systems count.
• The Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts show drones and air defence systems as decisive pieces of modern war; stay ready for kamikaze drones, surveillance and counter-drone work.
• Write dedicated doctrines and architectures for the electronic, cyber and space domains.
• Success in a future conflict will rest not on the number of aircraft alone, but on technological sophistication, speed of response and precision of preparation.

Operation Sindoor and the Agniveer decision

He commended the Air Force for the way it carried out its doctrines during and after Operation Sindoor, crediting the air warriors with professionalism, restraint and judgement. Lessons from that operation, he said, now show up in the service's procedures as a heavier stress on drones and air defence systems. On the Second Tour of Duty for Agniveers, he said the decision followed feedback from the forces themselves.

Who attended

The opening session drew Raksha Rajya Mantri Sanjay Seth, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar and Secretary (Defence Finance) Vishvajit Sahay, with every Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, all Principal Staff Officers and all Director Generals of the Air Force.