Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury, PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM, is a former Commandant of the National Defence College, New Delhi. An experienced pilot with over 5000 sorties on fighters, he has commanded a fighter squadron, IAF’s prestigious Tactics Air Combat Development Establishment, two frontline fighter wings, and has extensive experience in the development and execution of air operations at Command, Air Force and Joint Operations levels. He has been the Senior Air Staff Officer of WAC, Air Defence Commander of two operational Commands, AOC of IAF’s Composite Operational Battle Response and Analysis Group, as well as the ACAS Inspections, and Director Air Staff Inspections and Operational Planning and Assessment Group. Actively involved in policy and doctrine formulation, Air Strategy development, International Defence cooperation, has led three international air exercises with US, France and UAE, and was a part of Def Secy level talks to Israel and China. An MA from Kings College (UK) in International Security and Strategy, M Phil in National Security and Defence, and PhD from Osmania University, he is a member of the Royal College of Defence Studies, and an avid air power scholar and writer.

Contributions 
Convergence of the Indo-Pacific with the Indian Ocean—Is a Maritime Centric Approach Enough? An Indian Perspective This article examines China’s strategic ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region through the lens of its “Zhōngguó” or “Middle Kingdom” dream of regaining its perceived historical dominance. It traces the deep roots of this aspiration in Chin...

Hellfire from the Heavens – A Perspective on Contemporary Aerial Strikes Punitive response with the employment of air power is nothing new, and goes back to the British ‘watch and ward’ missions that the Indian Air Force undertook with the Royal Air Force in 1937, towards policing the recalcitrant tribes of Waziristan...

A Waning Conventional Deterrence- A National Security Portent The last decade has been awash with incidents of Chinese belligerence on India’s borders, in the North and North East. The long period of supposed peace and tranquility has actually worked to the strategic advantage of China as it enabled a widespr...

IAF’s Revised Doctrine 2022: An Overview The Indian Air Force has very recently published the third iteration of its Doctrine, a document which forges the close connect between India’s national security and its air power. Few are probably aware that the IAF has also been elevated to the t...

Russia’s Military Understanding of Air Power: Structural & Doctrinal Aspects The fog of war continues to hangover Ukraine even after eighty days, especially with facts difficult to discern amongst the information war running in parallel, biased reportage, and contradictory narratives based on the wide swath of international p...

VIF Papers 
Security Vision 2047: A Hundred Years since Independence … India must become the bulwark of an alternative Asian and international security system … in this context India’s continental threat gravitates on the defensive construct of ‘not ceding an inch of territory,’ and limited-depth offensives....

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