Bangalore: Over 100 IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) graduates have aspired to join the Indian Air Force (IAF), even as IAF recruited over 8,000 airmen and officers in the current year, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy said today (Feb 3, 2004).

"We had an intake of over 8,000 airmen and officers this year, up from 3,000 last year," Krishnaswamy said after inaugurating the international seminar on flight-testing and flight test training, at the IAF's aircraft systems and training establishment.

IAF, he said, was attracting people with quality and there was no requirement for Short Service Commission (SSC) officers.

"Earlier we used to re-employ retired officers as SSC, now we feel there is no need to re-employ retired personnel and no SSCs, other than women," Krishnaswamy said.

IAF officials would meet the IIT aspirants shortly and know their interest to ensure that they are suitably placed, he said, adding that IAF offered enormous opportunities to work on the latest technologies in sensors, computers, radars and basic science, among other streams.

Krishnaswamy said about 5,000 to 6,000 personnel retire every year from the IAF, which has strength of about 1.6 lakh.

He said there were quality people joining IAF from Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir and the Southern States among others, adding, "We have to stream them together".

Krishnaswamy described as "well received" an IAF programme to provide certification from recognised universities and institutions for qualified personnel to enable them job opportunities in the civilian world.

He said the IAF has entered into an agreement with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to share manpower resources between each other for various aeronautical projects.

"Earlier we used to depute officials to DRDO or HAL on specific projects and some were leaving after that. The arrangement is to ensure people retention and circulate them so as to ensure support for each organisation," he said.

Krishnaswamy said the IAF was interested to promote civil aviation in the country and offered to share airfields and air space but added, "We need to do a bit more".

Earlier addressing the seminar, Krishnaswamy said, India was the most cost effective in flight-testing in the world.

Though the country was behind in aircraft technology by two decades, he said, the learning experience with the LCA (Light Combat Aircraft), IJT (Intermediate jet Trainer) and ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) had proved this year "to be the year of aviation for India".

Over 200 delegates including 16 delegates from flight-testing and flight test training establishments of US, UK, France and Brazil are participating in the two-day seminar.

For the first time, all the three US schools are attending the seminar.