Bengaluru, May 24 (IANS) Chief of the Air Staff A.P. Singh highlighted the strategic necessity for developing resilient indigenous defence capabilities while presenting certificates to 17 graduating officers of the 48th Flight Test Course, an official said on Sunday.

Eleven Test Pilots and six Flight Test Engineers graduated from the Air Force Test Pilots School (AFTPS) in Bengaluru on Saturday after completing a 48-week multi-discipline training curriculum, the Defence Ministry official said in a statement.

Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, an alumnus of the 17th Flight Test Course, was the Chief Guest at the event where he emphasised ‘Atmanirbharta’ as a strategic necessity for developing resilient indigenous defence capabilities.

The Chief of the Air Staff highlighted the onerous responsibility that the test crew needs to shoulder to proliferate the nation’s indigenisation drive and strengthen the aerospace ecosystem.

He also stressed the need to optimise ‘design to delivery’ time cycles while upholding highest standards of safety and quality of equipment.

After presenting certificates to all graduating officers and awarding trophies to the meritorious performers, the Chief Guest exhorted them to continue toiling hard with focus and reminded them of the crucial role that they would go on to play towards capability building and modernisation of the armed forces.

He stressed the importance of professional competence to ensure that aircraft and systems meet the operational requirements of the services, while urging the officers to uphold the virtues of honesty, integrity, precision and excellence.

This year, the graduating course comprised of a cohort of 17 officers, including 14 officers from Indian Air Force, one officer from Indian Army and two officers from Indian Navy.

“From here on, the graduates, who completed their training on Saturday, will join the Aviation Wing of the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment, which is one of the premier units of the Indian Air Force,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

This year, the prestigious “Suranjan Das Trophy” for the best all-round student Test Pilot was awarded to Squadron Leader K.K. Singh, while the “Chief of the Air Staff Trophy” for the best student Test Pilot in flight evaluation was awarded to Squadron Leader Aditya Jamdagni.

The “Maharaja Hanumanth Singh Sword” for the best all-round student Flight Test Engineer was awarded to ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Wing Commander Abhinav Kumar, the statement added.

Wing Commander Pranav Sharma was awarded the “Dunlop Trophy” for best student Flight Test Engineer in flight evaluation, and the “Kapil Bhargava Trophy” for the best student in ground subjects was awarded to Squadron Leader Paras Sharma.

–IANS

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