Arvind Chari

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh ends his tenure tomorrow - among the finest Chiefs I have seen in 3 decades of covering the forces. Met him first when he headed the National Flight Test Centre's team of test pilots flying the Tejas. Excellent aviator, a very fine mind. Utterly unpretentious, spoke his mind - singularly determined to make changes where they mattered. Didn't want to kick the can down the road. Took on HAL directly with Tejas and made it clear - deliver what you promise or don't deliver at all. This was the man we needed at the helm for Op Sindoor. In an era of social media, foreign disinformation campaigns on X and a plain lack of understanding of how warfare happens, his reputation took a hit over IAF losses during Sindoor. The expectation was of a perfect record. That doesn't happen in military operations of the scale and intensity that we saw. Important to remember ACM Singh as the Chief who helmed the IAF's massive fight back which forced Pakistan to the ceasefire table. On May 10, 2025, the IAF hit Pakistan harder than at any point since the 1971 war, 54 years earlier. By about noon that day, the IAF was clearly on the ascendency, picking off high value targets at will. More than 10 airbases and air defence sites had been struck. An Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft had been shot down. IAF jets tasked with hitting even more targets had to abort their missions when Pak's DGMO picked up the hotline and said they had had enough. That will remain my abiding memory of Air Chief Marshal AP Singh.