Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on Thursday issued a tough call for accountability and urgency in India's defence manufacturing and procurement system. He referred to constant delays in project timelines.

He addressed an event in Delhi and expressed deep concern over the consistent failure of defence projects to meet delivery deadlines.

He said, "Many times, we know while signing contracts that those systems will never come. Not a single project that I can think of has been completed on time." He questioned why anyone promised unrealistic timelines at the time of contract signing. He asked, "Why should we promise something which cannot be achieved?"

He described how such practices harmed capacity-building and affected the broader strategic posture of the armed forces. He stated, "The process gets vitiated." He urged all stakeholders to reflect seriously on the credibility of their commitments.

The Air Chief called for a stronger partnership between the armed forces and Indian industry. He emphasised the need to go beyond just manufacturing and start focusing on indigenous design and development in defence.

He said, "We must begin designing and developing defence systems in India, not just producing them."
He explained, "Once we reach the stage of mass production, capacity naturally follows. But the foundation must be trust, between the forces and industry, to make this possible."

To emphasise the seriousness of commitment, he cited a popular Salman Khan line: “Ek baar jo humne commit kiya hain, fir mein apne aap ki bhi nahi sunta.” (Once we’ve made a commitment, we don’t even listen to ourselves.)

Singh pointed out the enduring centrality of air power in military operations. He said, "Whether it’s land or naval warfare, air power remains indispensable. Any kind of operation, as demonstrated in Operation Sindoora, is incomplete without it."

In a rare moment of candour, he also spoke about the culture of restraint in the defence forces. He said the services had often refrained from calling out underperformance explicitly. "Even defence forces have been keeping this restraint of not calling, you know, a black sheep, a black sheep," he said. He warned that such restraint could not continue indefinitely.

His remarks came at a time when India increasingly looked to the private sector to shoulder a greater role in defence production under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative. Quoting Winston Churchill, he urged the private sector to seize this pivotal moment.

He said, "Each day comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do something special."
He added, "What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared for that which could have been their finest hour."

He made a passionate appeal and urged Indian industry leaders to rise above short-term profits. He asked them to contribute meaningfully to the country’s defence preparedness. He said, "If today somebody is manufacturing world-class cars, world-class electronics, world-class equipment in the civil domain, why can't that industry or some of the industry join together and say we will make world-class military equipment?"

He added, "This is your tap on the shoulder. Please rise to the occasion."

The Air Chief had earlier said that his confidence in Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) continued to erode due to its failure to fix delays in delivery and upgrades to the light combat aircraft Tejas.

In February, Singh said, "You have to alleviate (our) worries and make us more confident. At the moment, I am just not confident of HAL, which is a very wrong thing to happen."

In a video, he was heard saying, "I can tell you (HAL) what our requirements and worries are," referring to the PSU.