AIRCRAFT ON THE IAF INVENTORY

The Indian Air Force Today

There are five operational air commands, the Western Air Command with headquarters in Delhi being the prime one and responsible for air operations from Kashmir southwards to Rajasthan and including the capital and the Punjab, with an Operations Group dedicated for Jammu & Kashmir including Ladakh. Central Air Command based at Allahabad, encompasses most of the Indo-Gangetic plain while Eastern Air Command, from Shillong, is responsible for Bengal, Assam, the eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and the others bordering area on Tibet, Bangladesh and Burma.South Western Air Command, at Jodhpur, is responsible for air operations in most of Rajasthan, southwards through Gujrarat to Saurashtra and the Kutch area. Southern Air Command was formed in July 1984 with headquarters at Trivandrum and has, geographically, the largest territory, from the Deccan plateau area to the southern tip of the peninsula and including the island territories of Lakshwadeep and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Training Command has its headquarters at Bangalore, with the majority of flying and ground training establishments located in Southern India. Maintenance Command operates from Nagpur in Central India. The five Operational Commands through administrative Wings, control some 45 fixed-wing squadrons, 20 helicopter units and numerous surface -to- air missile squadrons, with unit establishments varying from 12 to 18 aircraft. This represents a total aircraft strength of nearly 1,700 including training and support types, manned by some 120,000 personnel.

The Indian Air Force is today the world's fourth largest, well-equipped and professionally trained, smartly efficient and with an elan second to none.

Helicopters

The IAF's helicopter fleet has steadily increased in numbers over the past twenty years, blossoming from a handful of U.S. types in the '60s to over 500 French, Indian and Soviet built types. The pride of the force is, undoubtedly, the Mi 26 heavy lift helicopter which has been operated by No. 126 H.U. with outstanding results in the mountains of Northern India. The bulk of rotorcraft are Mi 17s and Mi 8s, well over one hundred of these types serving in Helicopter Units throughout the country, playing a vital logistic support role. Mi 8s are operated for commando assault tasks, for ferrying supplies and personnel to remote mountain helipads and jungle clearings, carrying out SAR (Search and Research Operations) and logistic support tasks in the island territories, employed with the Indian permanent station in the Antarctica and so on.

The smaller Alouette 111, renamed Chetak, is as ubiquitous, being employed for casevac(Casualty Evacuation), communi- cations and liaison duties with the IAF having received over 150 examples of this versatile rotorcraft.

In 1986, however, the Government of India formally constituted the Army's Aviation Corps and most Chetak and Cheetahs operating in AOP Squadrons were transferred from the Air Force on 1st November 1986. The Air Force continues to fly armed Chetaks in the anti-tank role as well as for CASEVAC and general duties while the lighter Cheetah is operated by (FAC) flights.

In May 1984, No. 125 Helicopter Unit was formed with the formidable Mi-25 gunship helicopter, used to much effect in Sri Lanka. The upgraded Mi 35 has followed in April 1990, with No. 104 HU being reequipped with the type. Future requirements for armed helicopters are planned to be met by the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) currently under development by HAL at Bangalore.

Trainer

The IAF replaced its HT 2 primary trainers with the HPT32 (Deepak), the new piston engined trainer being utilised at the Basic Flying Training School at Allahabad since January 1988 and at Air Force Academy at Dundigal. Flight cadets then proceed to the Air Force Academy, Dundigal for instruction on the HJT 16 Kiran, first on the Mk. I/IA and then on the armed Mk II version or the Polish origin Iskra, for tactical flying. After commissioning, pilots are streamed to various conversion units, depending on their selection and proficiency. Future fighter pilots are sent to operational conversion units (now known as the MOFTU or MIG Operational Flying Training Unit) where operational and tactical flyng is conducted on MIG 21. Thus are born the IAF's leaders and even future spacemen, like Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma, India's first cosmonaut who participated in a joint space flight with the Soviets in 1984.

SU-30 ~ Twin seater twin engine multirole fighter of Russian origin which carries 130 mm GSH gun alongwith 8000 kg external armament. It is capable of carrying a variety of medium-range guided air to air missiles with active or semi-active radar or Infra red homing close range missiles. It has a max speed of 2500 km/hr (Mach 2.35).	SU-30
MiG-29 ~ Twin engine, single seater air superiority fighter aircraft of Russian origin capable of attaining max. speed of 2445 km per hour (Mach-2.3). It has a combat ceiling of 17 km. It carries a 30 mm cannon alongwith four R-60 close combat and two R-27 R medium range radar guided missiles.	MiG-29
MiG-27 ~ Single engine, single seater tactical strike fighter aircraft of Russian origin having a max. speed of 1700 km/hr (Mach 1.6). It carries one 23 mm six-barrel rotary integral cannon and can carry upto 4000 kg of other armament externally.	MiG-27
MiG-25 ~ Twin engine, single seater strategic reconnaissance aircraft of Russian origin having a max. speed of Mach 3.2 and max height close to 24 km unmatched by any other fighter aircraft in the world.	MiG-25
MiG-23 MF ~ Single engine, single seater swing wing air superiority fighter of Russian origin carrying one 23 mm twin barrel gun and two R-23R/T medium range and two R-60 close combat missiles. It has a max speed of 2446 km/hr (Mach 2.3).	MiG-23 MF
MiG-21 BIS ~ Single engine, single seater multirole fighter/ground attack aircraft of Russian origin which forms the back-bone of the IAF. It has a max speed of 2230 km/hr (Mach 2.1) and carries one 23mm twin barrel cannon with four R-60 close combat missiles.	MiG-21 BIS
Mirage-2000 ~ A single seater air defence and multi-role fighter of French origin powered by a single engine can attain max speed of 2495 km/hr(Mach 2.3). It carries two 30 mm integral cannons and two matra super 530D medium-range and two R-550 magic II close combat missiles on external stations.	Mirage-2000
Jaguar ~ A twin-engine, single seater deep penetration strike aircraft of Anglo-French origin which has a max. speed of 1350 km /hr (Mach 1.3). It has two 30mm guns and can carry two R-350 Magic CCMs (overwing) alongwith 4750 kg of external stores (bombs/fuel).	Jaguar
Canberra ~ Twin engine, twin seater subsonic tactical bomber and interdictor of British origin having max speed of 933 km/hr having four integral cannons (20 mm) and capable of carrying three bombs (1000 lbs each) internally alongwith two bombs (1000 lbs) underwing or 8000 lbs bomb load internally and underwing.	Canberra
IL-76 ~ A four engine heavy duty/long haul military transport aircraft of Russian origin with a max speed of 850 km/hr. It has a twin 23 mm cannon in tail turret and capacity to carry 225 paratroopers or 40 tonnes freight, wheeled or tracked armoured vehicles.	IL-76
AN-32 ~ Twin engine turboprop, medium tactical transport aircraft of Russian origin with a crew of five and capacity to carry 39 paratroopers or max load of 6.7 tonnes. It has a max cruise speed of 530 km/hr.	AN-32
AVRO ~ Twin engine turboprop, military transport and freighter of British origin having a capacity of 48 paratroopers or 6 tonnes freight and max cruise speed of 452 km/hr.	AVRO
Dornier ~ Twin engine turboprop, logistic air support staff transport aircraft of German origin capable of carrying 19 passengers or 2057 kg freight. It has a max speed of 428 km/hr.	Dornier
Boeing 737-200 ~ Twin engine turbofan, VIP passenger aircraft of American origin with total seating capacity of upto 60 passengers. It has a max cruise speed of 943 km/hr.	Boeing 737-200
MI-26 ~ Twin engine turboshaft, military heavy lift helicopter of Russian origin with carrying capacity of 70 combat equipped troops or 20,000 kg payload. It has a max speed of 295 km/hr.	MI-26
MI-25 ~ Twin engine turboshaft, assault and anti armour helicopter capable of carrying 8 men assault squad with four barrel 12.7 mm rotary gun in nose barbette and upto 1500 Kg of external ordnance including Scorpion anti-tank missiles. It has a max cruise speed of 310 km/hr.	MI-25
MI-17 ~ Twin engine turboshaft, medium transport helicopter of Russian origin with a capacity of 24 troops or 3.3 tonnes of freight. It carries 6 UV-17, 57 mm rocket pods and has max cruise speed of 240 km/hr.	MI-17
Chetak ~ Single engine turboshaft, light utility French helicopter with capacity of 6 passengers or 500 kg load. The anti-tank version carries 4 AS-11 wire guided missiles. It has a max speed of 220 km/hr.	Chetak
Cheetah ~ Single engine turboshaft, FAC/casevac helicopter of French origin having capacity to carry 3 passengers or 100 kg external sling loads. It has max cruise speed of 121 km/hr and can climb to 1 km in 4 minutes.	Cheetah