Air Force chief AP Singh brushed aside hype around the Chinese sixth-generation fighter jets while speaking at the India Today Conclave 2025. He quipped about having a “6th-gen air crew”, reaffirming that tactics bridge the gap when technology is not at par with others.
In Short
IAF chief AP Singh speaks at Day 2 of India Today Conclave 2025
Says having an aircraft isn’t enough, it must have capability, need to be operationalised
Dismisses hype around Chinese 6th-gen fighter jets
Air Force Chief AP Singh on Saturday brushed aside hype around China’s mysterious sixth-generation fighter jets while speaking at the India Today Conclave 2025. When asked how the Air Force plans to deal with the gap in fighter jets with those of China, considering we are currently on fourth-generation fighter aircraft, he quipped about having “sixth-generation air crew”.
“We have sixth-generation air crew. We can take care of that part,” AP Singh told India Today TV News Director Rahul Kanwal during the second and final day of the conclave.
Singh reaffirmed that at times, it is normal for others to have better and more efficient technology, and this gap can be bridged by designing clever tactics.
“Sometimes, there will be situations when your technology is not at par with (those of others), then you need to devise your tactics accordingly,” he said.
Raising suspicions around Chinese sixth-generation fighter jets, the Air Force Chief further said that merely having an aircraft is “not good enough”.
“The Chinese have sixth-generation fighter (jets), if we call that sixth-generation. There are doubts about what generation it is and what all capabilities it has. Just having an aircraft flying is not good enough, it has to have the capability, and it has to be operationalised,” AP Singh said at the conclave, which also had India Today TV Senior Executive Editor, Gaurav Sawant, present.
What does IAF require to combat hostile neighbours? Here is what IAF chief said
Air Force Chief AP Singh in a conversation with India Today News Director Rahul Kanwal and Managing Editor Gaurav Sawant at India Today Conclave 2025 talked about what the Indian Air Force requires to combat India’s hostile neighbours. “You have to fight with the weapons better than the enemy,” said the IAF chief. He further said, “If they can fire the weapon ahead of me, obviously I can not reach that point where I can fire my weapon. So, with advancement of technology we need to do this catching up part.”