Newsmaker | Former IAF chief RKS Bhadauria, an accomplished fighter pilot, joins BJP

Welcoming Bhadauria, Thakur said: “I used to get inspired when I used to see him (Bhadauria) in uniform. When crores of young people dream of a safe and secure India, they look towards (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi ji with great hope. Officers like you (Bhadauria) have rendered their services for a long time to make India secure. Today, I feel proud that the nation is safe under Narendra Modi ji. That is why officers like you choose the BJP after retirement.”

A highly accomplished fighter pilot, Bhadauria, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, has over 4,270 hours of experience on 27 types of fighters as well as transport aircraft. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and graduated from the Air Force Academy with the coveted “Sword of Honour”. He completed his Master’s degree in Defence Studies from Command and Staff College, Bangladesh. He was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in June 1980.

Bhadauria held various crucial appointments in his four-decade career with the Air Force, including commands of a frontline Jaguar Squadron and an Air Force Station in the South-Western sector. He has been the commanding officer of a flight test squadron at the Aircraft and System Testing Establishment and has served as a Chief Test Pilot as well as Project Director of the National Flight Test Centre on the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project. He was closely involved in the initial prototype flight testing on the LCA. He holds the distinction of being an experimental test pilot, a category “A” qualified flying instructor, and a pilot attack instructor.

During his tenure as IAF chief between May 2019 and September 2021, he oversaw various self-reliance initiatives for the service and was instrumental in putting the IAF’s point of view across during discussions on the creation of integrated theatre commands.

In July 2021, a disagreement between Bhadauria and former Chief of Staff of the Indian Army General Bipin Rawat over the integrated theatre commands generated discussion. At an event organised by the Global Counter Terrorism Council, General Rawat described the Air Force as a “support arm” but Bhadauria disagreed saying “airpower has a huge role”.

“Air Force is required to provide support to the ground forces and do not forget that Air Force continues to remain a supporting arm to the armed forces, just as artillery support or the engineer support the combatant arms in the Army,” Rawat said.

Addressing the same event later, Bhadauria, without referring to Rawat’s remarks, said: “It is not a supporting role alone. The airpower has a huge role to play. In any of the integrated battle areas, it’s not an issue of support alone.”