INDIAN AIR FORCE“TOUCH THE SKY WITH GLORY”

HISTORY

• Indian Air Force established on 8th October 1932 under the British Rule.

• Earlier it was known as the Royal Indian Air Force.

• The aircraft RIAF first operated was Wapiti Planes with one squadron.

• After independence airforce served the nation with the prefix Royal which was dropped when India became republic in 1950

Operations• IAF has been involved in three wars all with

neighbouring country Pakistan.• Major operations undertaken by IAF include

Operation Vijay,Operation Meghdoot and Operation Cactus.

• Apart from conflicts, the IAF has been an active participant in United Nation peacekeeping missions.

• In 1947 kashmir war IAF was just used to transport troops.

• During 1962 Sino-India war military planners failed to deploy and effectively use the IAF against chinese forces which led to defeat.

• Learing from the mistake India decides to use air power against Pakistan in 1965 war again for kashmir.

• PAF was more superior than IAF as a result more than 60% of the IAF air combact losses took place during this war.

• AFTER 1965 war IAF underwent a series of changes.

• Inducted 3rd generation planes like HAL HF-24 MARUT ,MIG 21,SUKHOI SU-7 fighters

• After few years India again engages in war against Pakistan in 1971.

• This time IAF was more superior than PAF and controlled both East and West front of the war.

• By the time Pak forces surrendered IAF had destroyed over 110 aircrafts of PAF and had flown over 6000 sorties on both East and West fronts.

BATTLE OF LONGAWALA

• Battle was fought in Longawala in 1971.• Pak army with 2000 soldiers and 52 tanks attacked

120 Indian troops in Longawala.• IAF’s 6 Hawk Hunter each loaded with 12 anti tank

rockets and 4x 30 mm cannon took off from Jaisalmer in the morning.

• Pilots were trained well and knew the sand dunes like the palm of there hands.

• What followed was history in making as big tank thrust was defeated by air action alone ,first time in the history of warfare.

• Pakistani tank exposed like pluck chickens made desperate maneuver in the sand creating a track pattern which was caught in a historic photo.

• The fate of the Pakistani tank thrust is explained by the desperate intercepted message from one of the tank.

Strength of IAF

• The main strength of IAF is fighter aircrafts divided into categories

• Attacker• Fighter

Attacker• It is those jets which have the ability to hit air to surface.• Types are • Jaguar• Mig 21 Bison• Mig 27

• Jaguar is:-A twin- engine,single seater deep penetration strike aircraft of french origin which has a max speed of Mach 1.3(1350 km/hr).

• MIG 21 Bison:- Single engine,single seater ground attack aircraft of russian origin which form the back-bone of IAF.It has a max speed of 2230km/hr.Oldest plane in IAF fleet.

• MIG-27:-Known as “Bhadur” in IAF. Single seater and single engine tactical strike aircraft of Russian origin.It can attain a max speed of 1700km/hr.It can carry upto 4000Kg of armament externally.

Fighter Aircraft• A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for

air-to-air combat with other aircraft,as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs.

• Types are:-• Sukhoi 30-MK• Mirage-2000• MIG-29

• Sukhoi-30 MK:-Twin seater multirole fighter of Russian origin which carries 130mm GSH gun alongwith 8000kg external armament.It is capable carrying a variety of medium range air to air missile with active or semi active radar or infra red homing close range missiles. It has a max speed of 2500km/hr.

• MIG-29:-Twin engine,single seater air superiority fighter aircraft of Russian origin capable of attaing a max speed of 2445 km/hr.Ithas a combat celling of 17km.

• Mirage 2000:-A single seater air defence and multi-role fighter of French origin.It is powered by a single engine and can attain a maximum speed of 2495km/hr.

• IAF is world fourth largest air force with a sterngth of 1322 aircraft,including 680 combat aircraft and 305 helicopter and presently operates a total of 34 squadron.

• All aircrafts belong to 4.5 generation.• The only 4.5 generation fighter aircraft developed by India is

HAL-Tejas which is now inducted and will be in service in the year 2013.

MMRCA Project• The Indian Air Force Medium Multi Role Combat

Aircraft.• It is the worlds largest defence deal of worth 42,000

crore.Under this IAF would acquire 150 multi role aircraft.

• Six aircraft were bid for the order-saab Gripen, Eurofigher Typoon,Dassault Rafale,Mikoyan MIG-35 and the American F-16 and F-18(a version of super hornet )

• Finally the deal went to Dassult Rafale which is 5th generation aircraft and is capable of carrying Nuclear Warheads.

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