Air Chief Marshal AP Singh proposes phased, India-specific theatreisation plan while rejecting permanent geographic division of IAF fighter assets

Key facts

• Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh gave his first comprehensive articulation on the theatreisation plan on October 25, 2026, saying the Indian Air Force does not view it as an exercise to permanently divide fighter assets geographically.
• Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said the guiding principle for theatreisation should be centralised control where necessary and decentralised execution where appropriate, so air power can be concentrated where needed while commanders retain agility.
• The theatreisation plan, announced in 2019 as India's most ambitious military reform since Independence, seeks to integrate the Army, Navy and Air Force for greater operational synergy.
• The proposed architecture envisages three integrated theatre commands: a Northern Theatre Command in Lucknow focused on China, a Western Theatre Command in Jaipur addressing challenges from Pakistan, and a Maritime Theatre Command in Thiruvananthapuram.
• Progress on theatreisation has stalled due to divergent views among the three services over the proposed command structures, and the IAF has strong reservations about splitting its fighter squadrons under the proposed structures.
• Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said Operation Sindoor was carried out under a joint architecture established by the Chief of Defence Staff and the three service chiefs, where centralised allocation and timely reallocation of critical resources proved decisive.
• The IAF chief said a transformation of this scale should be implemented in phases so operational readiness is never compromised, and future structures should be built around India's specific security requirements rather than replicating foreign models.
• Former Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan (retd.) submitted a comprehensive theatreisation proposal to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while current CDS Gen NS Raja Subramani is focusing on key aspects of the overall plan.
• Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said future conflicts will be multi-domain by nature and the three services will plan and operate together far more closely than ever before.