The Indian Air Force is one of the three constituents of the Indian Armed Forces. It was established in 1932.
The Air Force operates a combination of combat, reconnaissance, transport aircraft, and helicopters. The early fleet consisted majorly of imported planes while HAL designed and built some aircraft locally. HAL was involved in license production of some of the foreign aircraft in India.
Aircraft NameOriginPrimaryrole(s)IntroducedRetiredCountNotesIntroduced into service before 1947Westland WapitiUnited KingdomLiaison1933194228Armstrong Whitworth AtalantaUnited KingdomTransport194119445Avro Anson IUnited KingdomBasic trainer194219457Boulton Paul Defiant TT.IIIUnited KingdomTarget tug19441945?Bristol Blenheim IUnited KingdomBomber194119425de Havilland D.H.86BUnited KingdomTransport194019422de Havilland Dragon RapideUnited KingdomTransport194119454de Havilland Tiger MothUnited KingdomBasic trainer19391957192Douglas DakotaUnited StatesTransport19441987206Fairchild PT-19United StatesBasic trainer1943194640Harlow PC-5AUnited StatesTransport194119424Hawker AudaxUnited KingdomLiaison193919457Hawker HartUnited KingdomBomber193919427Hawker HindUnited KingdomBomber193919416Hawker HurricaneUnited KingdomFighter-bomber19421945?North American Harvard Mk.II and 4CanadaBasic trainer19421973?Supermarine Spitfire Vc & VIIIcUnited KingdomFighter/Reconnaissance1943194819Vickers ValentiaUnited KingdomTransport194219441Vultee VengeanceUnited StatesBomber1942194535Westland Lysander IIUnited KingdomLiaison1941194325Westland Lysander III.TUnited KingdomTarget tug1941194248Airspeed OxfordUnited KingdomTransport194619495Auster AOP.6United KingdomLiaison1946197020Hawker Tempest IIUnited KingdomFighter19451955235Supermarine Spitfire FR.XIVE & FR.XVIIIUnited KingdomFighter/Reconnaissance19451957120Introduced into service between 1947 and 1970Aero Ae-45CzechoslovakiaTransport195519571Antonov An-12Soviet UnionTransport1961199365 Auster AOP.9United KingdomLiaison1955198135Bell 47G-2United StatesHelicopter1957197915Consolidated B-24J LiberatorUnited StatesBomber1948196745Dassault MD. 450B OuraganFranceFighter-bomber19531967104Dassault Mystère MD.454 IVAFranceFighter-bomber19571973104de Havilland Canada DHC-3 OtterCanadaTransport1956199836 de Havilland Canada DHC-4 CaribouCanadaTransport1963199126de Havilland DevonUnited KingdomTransport1947199122de Havilland Vampire F.3United KingdomFighter194819553de Havilland Vampire FB.52United KingdomFighter-bomber19501974286de Havilland Vampire NF.10United KingdomFighter1953195530de Havilland Vampire NF.54United KingdomFighter1953196630de Havilland Vampire PR.55United KingdomReconnaissance195419655de Havilland Vampire T.11United KingdomBasic trainer1963?7de Havilland Vampire T.55United KingdomBasic trainer19531982124English Electric Canberra B(I).58/B(I).66/PR.57/PR.67/T.4/T.13United KingdomBomber/Reconnaissance19572007150Fairchild C-119G Flying BoxcarUnited StatesTransport1953198489Folland Fo.141 Gnat F.1United KingdomFighter19581978?HAL HF-24 Marut Mk.1IndiaFighter-bomber19611985147HAL HT-2IndiaBasic trainer19531998169Hawker Hunter FGA.56AUnited KingdomFighter-bomber19571996167Hawker Hunter T.66United KingdomBasic trainer1959199240Ilyushin Il-14Soviet UnionTransport1955198129Lockheed Super ConstellationUnited StatesTransport196119819Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F-13/FL/PFM/M/bis/BisonSoviet UnionFighter19642025872Mil Mi-4Soviet UnionHelicopter19601988121North American T-6G TexanUnited StatesBasic trainer1973? Percival Prentice T.3United KingdomBasic trainer1947196362Sikorsky S-55United StatesHelicopter195419668Sikorsky S-62BUnited StatesHelicopter196019792Supermarine Spitfire PR.XI & XIXUnited KingdomReconnaissance1947195915Supermarine Spitfire T.IXUnited KingdomBasic trainer1947195510Vickers ViscountUnited KingdomTransport195519712HAL KrishakIndiaLiaison1965198868HAL PushpakIndiaBasic trainer1965196725Hawker Hunter F. Mk.56United KingdomFighter1966199255Sukhoi Su-7BMK/BKLSoviet UnionFighter-bomber19681986140Tupolev Tu-124Soviet UnionTransport196619813Introduced into service after 1971HAL Ajeet Mk.1IndiaFighter1977199189HAL HPT-32 DeepakIndiaPrimary trainer19842009144Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23UBSoviet UnionConversion trainer1980201915Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23BNSoviet UnionFighter-bomber1981200995Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MFSoviet UnionFighter1982200740Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25RBK/RUSoviet UnionReconnaissance1981200610Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27MLSoviet UnionFighter19852019165PZL TS-11 Iskra bis-DPolandBasic trainer1975200476SEPECAT Jaguar IS GR.1United Kingdom/FranceGround attack1979198416Sukhoi Su-30KRussiaMultirole1996200718
Gallery
See also List of active Indian military aircraft List of Indian naval aircraft
Notes
References
Bibliography
Green, William, The Indian Air Force and its Aircraft Ducimus Books, London, 1982, ASIN B004YXNILM
Sapru, Somanth, Combat Lore: Indian Air Force 1930-1945 K W Publishers, 2014, 978–9383649259 Singh, Pushpindar, Aircraft of the Indian Air Force 1933-1973 English Book Store, New Delhi, 1974, ASIN B00K0Q8MX6