Indian Air Force: The Maintenance Paradigm

The scope of maintenance functions in the Indian Air Force (IAF) is vast. The need for a very specialised professional conduct in each one of these is obvious from the width of deliberations in this book. Further the reader can appreciate the virtues of an integrated approach to maintenance. The text is therefore as relevant to the aircrew as it is to the engineers technicians and logisticians. The paradigm of maintenance has attained a unique character over the years in the IAF despite legacies from its British genesis. Maintenance philosophies have been adaptively developed to support ever growing air power dimensions and exclusive indigenous requirements. A maintenance engineer in the IAF gets involved with every engineering aspect of planning design/development acquisition and projects besides maintenance and logistics support to operations. Unlike most other air forces the communications and Information Technology (IT) disciplines are also taken on by the maintenance man in the IAF. All activities within the maintenance arena have been dealt with ingeniously in this book. This book reviews diverse fields of engineering activities. Beginning with the need for an organisational fusion an array of specialised functions has been presented to finally suggest an integrated maintenance approach. Quality discipline and goal alignment are prime factors - emphasis on these runs through all the discussions. Learning from nearly four decades of experience in the Air Force a few mindsets have been highlighted with suggestions for a paradigm shift. It is always fascinating to relive memories of leaders who shaped our destiny. These examples have the potential to send a surge of renewed motivation through every air warrior. The chapter on the work force is a tribute to the commitment of airmen and civilians. This book is a first in many ways. The need for transformational thinking with a systems view has been advocated for all actions related to a subject as sedate as maintenance. Contributions from different variables viz. infrastructure material technology processes and people above all have to be in sync to produce the desired air power outcome. The objective of this book is not to prescribe a solution but to provoke thinking about new paradigms for improvement.