The Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS), Islamabad, hosted a Roundtable Conference on “Psychological & Strategic Layers of Air & Aerospace Power” on 23rd October 2025. The event brought together senior practitioners and scholars to discuss how doctrine, leadership, and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), space systems, and Electronic Warfare (EW) are redefining the balance of power in South Asia. CASS, as an independent think tank, continues to facilitate academic and strategic dialogue on evolving dimensions of national and regional security, fostering insight into the future of air and aerospace power in South Asia.
The moderator, Air Vice Marshal Nasser ul Haq Wyne (Retd), Director CASS, set the stage by emphasising that contemporary air and aerospace operations demand not just technological superiority, but also clarity of doctrine and psychological readiness. He observed that leadership, training, and decision-loop compression are now the true determinants of victory, especially in an era where rapid information cycles can shape perceptions as much as performance.
In his keynote address, Air Marshal Zulfiqar Ahmed Qureshi (Retd), President of the Centre for Character & Leadership Development (JCCL) at PAF Academy, highlighted that contemporary air and aerospace power extends far beyond aircraft and missiles, with true advantage resting in doctrine, employment strategy, training, and clarity of leadership, reinforced by emerging domains such as space, cyber, electronic warfare, and artificial intelligence. These elements, he noted, compress the OODA loop, enabling faster and more decisive action. He emphasised that sovereign nations prosper when they secure their citizens, and the Pakistan Air Force, as the bastion of aerospace power, plays a vital role in achieving national security objectives. Air power, he concluded, remains remarkably cost-effective through its decisive effects rather than its material value.
The second keynote speaker, Air Marshal Farooq Habib (Retd), former Director CASS, examined the psychological mechanisms that influence public opinion and political decision-making in contemporary warfare, drawing lessons for doctrine, training, and leadership in a multi-domain environment. He stressed the importance of resilience training for leaders operating under degraded, ambiguous, and deceptive conditions through scenario-based exercises. He also emphasised the need to educate the public to withstand an adversary’s kinetic and non-kinetic efforts for psychological dominance. Furthermore, he advocated that leaders possess a firm grounding in the social sciences, align political objectives with coercive strategy, and institutionalise information operations expertise within air operations planning.
In his concluding remarks, Air Marshal Javaid Ahmed (Retd), President CASS, thanked the speakers for their strategic insights and operational perspectives. He remarked that as warfare expands into new domains-cyber, space, and information-the psychological component of deterrence is becoming as vital as technological strength. He reaffirmed CASS’s commitment to advancing dialogue on doctrines that blend intellect, innovation, and resolve in support of Pakistan’s national security.