Indian Air Force
On the 26th of January 2002, Arjan Singh became the first and so far only five-star officer in the history of the Indian Air Force. The President of India conferred on him the rank of Marshal of the Air Force, and nobody has received it since. That single honour hints at how unusual this service is. The Indian Air Force was officially established on the 8th of October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of British India. As of January 2025, it has 135,000 personnel in service. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare when armed conflict comes. Yet since 1950 it has fought four wars with neighbouring Pakistan, flown relief missions after cyclones and floods, and joined United Nations peacekeeping. How did an auxiliary force that began with a few biplanes become the fourth largest air force in the world? What did its crews do over Burma, Goa, the Siachen Glacier and the Maldives? And why are some of its most recent engagements still disputed by both sides?
The Indian Air Force Act of 1932 spelled out the new service's auxiliary status and required it to adopt Royal Air Force uniforms, badges, brevets and insignia. On the 1st of April 1933, the service commissioned its first unit, No. 1 Squadron, with four Westland Wapiti biplanes and five Indian pilots. A British RAF officer, Flight Lieutenant Cecil Bouchier, led them. He later rose to Air Vice Marshal.
In April 1936, A flight of No. 1 Squadron first saw action at Miranshah in North Waziristan. It flew reconnaissance missions and gave ground support against tribal insurgents in the North-West Frontier. C flight, raised in June 1938, brought the squadron to full strength, and a B flight, also equipped with Wapitis, was formed in April 1939.
During World War II, the IAF played an instrumental role in halting the advance of the Japanese army in Burma. Its first air strike hit a Japanese military base in Arakan. Later missions struck Japanese airbases at Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. The IAF flew strike, close air support, reconnaissance, bomber escort and pathfinding missions for RAF and USAAF heavy bombers. RAF and IAF pilots even trained by flying with each other's air wings, gaining combat experience and communication proficiency. Indian pilots also took part in air operations in North Africa and Europe.
Some 200 Indians resident in Britain, along with many native Indians, volunteered for the RAF and the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. One was Sergeant Shailendra Eknath Sukthankar, a navigator with No. 83 Squadron. He was commissioned as an officer and received the DFC on the 14th of September 1943. As a Squadron Leader he completed 45 operations, 14 of them aboard the RAF Museum's Avro Lancaster R5868.
Assistant Section Officer Noor Inayat Khan joined the WAAF in November 1940 to fight against Nazism. She is described as a Muslim pacifist and Indian nationalist. She served bravely as a secret agent with the Special Operations Executive in France, but was eventually betrayed and captured. Other Indian airmen were seconded or transferred to the expanding IAF. Squadron Leader Mohinder Singh Pujji, a DFC holder, led No. 4 Squadron IAF in Burma.
The service grew steadily during the war. New aircraft included the American Vultee Vengeance and Douglas Dakota, plus the British Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire and Westland Lysander. Personnel earned 22 Distinguished Flying Crosses. In 1945, King George VI recognised this valiant service by conferring the prefix Royal. The force was thereafter called the Royal Indian Air Force, a name it would keep through independence.
When British India was partitioned in 1947, three of the Royal Indian Air Force's ten operational squadrons sat inside the borders of Pakistan. They were transferred, along with their facilities, to the Royal Pakistan Air Force. The roundel changed to an interim Chakra design derived from the Ashoka Chakra.
Around the same time, war broke out over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani forces were moving into the state, so its Maharaja decided to accede to India in order to receive military help. The day after the Instrument of Accession was signed, the RIAF was called upon to carry troops into the war zone. The fighting grew into a full-scale war, though there was no formal declaration of war.
The RIAF did not meet the Pakistan Air Force in air-to-air combat during this war. A couple of Hawker Tempest fighters did intercept a Pakistani Douglas DC-3 transport and tried to shoot it down. Its pilot, Mukhtar Ahmad Dogar, managed to evade them. When India became a republic in 1950, the prefix Royal was dropped, and the current IAF roundel was adopted.
In 1960, Belgium's 75-year rule over Congo ended abruptly, and violence and rebellion engulfed the country. The IAF activated No. 5 Squadron, equipped with English Electric Canberras, to support the United Nations Operation in the Congo. Operational missions began in November. Flying from Leopoldville and Kamina, the Canberras destroyed the rebel air force and became the only long-range air support force available to UN ground troops. The unit stayed until the UN mission ended in 1966.
In late 1961, after years of disagreement between New Delhi and Lisbon, India decided to attack the Portuguese colony of Goa. The IAF was asked to support the ground force in Operation Vijay. Probing flights by fighters and bombers ran from the 8th to the 18th of December, aiming to draw out the Portuguese Air Force, but no one rose to meet them.
On the 18th of December, two waves of Canberra bombers cratered the runway at Dabolim airfield, taking care to spare the terminals and the air traffic control tower. Two Portuguese transport aircraft on the field, a Super Constellation and a DC-6, were deliberately left alone so they could be captured intact. Even so, their pilots took off from the damaged airfield and escaped to Portugal.
Elsewhere, Hunters attacked the wireless station at Bambolim, and Vampires gave air support to ground forces. In Daman, Mystères struck Portuguese gun positions. At Diu, Ouragans, known as Toofanis in the IAF, bombed the runways and destroyed the control tower, wireless station and meteorological station. After the Portuguese surrendered, the former colony was integrated into India.
In 1962, border disagreements between China and India escalated into war when China mobilised its troops across the Indian border. During the Sino-Indian War, India's military planners failed to deploy and use the IAF effectively against the invading forces. That cost India a significant advantage, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the 24th of April 1965, an Indian Ouragan strayed over the Pakistani border and was forced to land by a Pakistani Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. The pilot was returned to India. The Pakistan Air Force kept the aircraft, and it ended up on display at the PAF museum in Peshawar.
That same year, Pakistan launched Operation Gibraltar, a plan to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir and start a rebellion against Indian rule. The fighting became known as the Second Kashmir War. It was the first time the IAF actively engaged an enemy air force. Rather than supporting the Army, the IAF carried out independent raids against PAF bases deep inside Pakistan, where its fighters were exposed to anti-aircraft fire.
The PAF enjoyed technological superiority and gained advantage from the suddenness of its attack. The government restrained the IAF from retaliating in the eastern sector, where a substantial part of its combat force stood guard against possible Chinese intervention. UN stipulations also barred forces in Jammu and Kashmir beyond what the 1949 ceasefire allowed. Even so, the IAF kept the PAF from gaining air superiority over the conflict zones.
The small and nimble Folland Gnats proved effective against the PAF's F-86 Sabres and earned the nickname Sabre Slayers. By the end, the IAF had lost 60-70 aircraft and the PAF had lost 43. More than 60 percent of IAF losses came in ground attack missions, because fighter-bombers made repeated dive attacks on the same target and met ground fire. Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh said the IAF, though qualitatively inferior, achieved air superiority in three days.
In 1966, the Para Commandos regiment was created. To improve supply and rescue capability, the IAF inducted 72 HS 748s, built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited under licence from Avro. India also pushed for home-built fighters. The HAL HF-24 Marut, designed by the German aerospace engineer Kurt Tank, entered service, and HAL began work on an improved Gnat called the Ajeet. The IAF also started inducting Mach 2 capable Soviet MiG-21 and Sukhoi Su-7 fighters.
On the 22nd of November 1971, four PAF F-86 Sabres attacked Indian and Mukti Bahini positions at Garibpur, near the border. IAF Gnats shot down two of them and damaged one. On the 3rd of December, India formally declared war after massive preemptive PAF strikes on IAF installations at Srinagar, Ambala, Sirsa, Halwara and Jodhpur. The strikes failed. Advance intelligence let the leadership anticipate the move and take precautions.
Within the first two weeks, the IAF flew almost 12,000 sorties over East Pakistan and gave close air support to the advancing Army. It also assisted the Indian Navy against the Pakistani Navy in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. On the western front, it destroyed more than 20 Pakistani tanks, 4 APCs and a supply train during the Battle of Longewala. Raids also hit oil installations in Karachi, the Mangla Dam and a gas plant in Sindh.
In the east, the IAF achieved complete air superiority, and ordnance factories, runways and other vital areas were severely damaged. By the time Pakistani forces surrendered, the IAF had destroyed 94 PAF aircraft. Its transport planes dropped leaflets over Dhaka urging Pakistani forces to surrender. Hostilities officially ended at 14:30 GMT on the 17th of December, after the fall of Dacca on the 15th.
The independence of Pakistan's eastern wing as Bangladesh was confirmed. The IAF had flown over 16,000 sorties, and more than 80 percent were close support and interdiction. Neutral assessments put IAF losses at about 45 aircraft against 75 for Pakistan. The IAF's higher sortie rate and its emphasis on ground attack explain much of that imbalance. On the ground, Pakistan suffered 9,000 killed and 25,000 wounded, while India lost 3,000 dead and 12,000 wounded.
On the 13th of April 1984, India launched Operation Meghdoot to capture the Siachen Glacier in the contested Kashmir region. IAF Mi-8, Chetak and Cheetah helicopters airlifted hundreds of Indian troops there. The operation was unique because of Siachen's inhospitable terrain and climate. It succeeded in part because, under a previous agreement, neither India nor Pakistan had stationed personnel in the area.
India now holds the entire 70 km Siachen Glacier and all its tributary glaciers. It also holds the three main passes of the Saltoro Ridge immediately west of the glacier, named Sia La, Bilafond La and Gyong La. Pakistan controls the glacial valleys west of the ridge. According to TIME magazine, India gained more than 1000 square miles of territory through its Siachen operations.
On the evening of the 4th of June 1987, the IAF flew Operation Poomalai, whose name is the Tamil word for garland. India had failed to negotiate an end to the Sri Lankan Civil War, and an unarmed convoy of ships had not delivered humanitarian aid. So five An-32 transports airdropped supplies instead, escorted by four Mirage 2000s of No. 7 Squadron, the Battleaxes. The drop faced no opposition from Sri Lankan forces.
Another Mirage 2000 orbited 150 km away as an airborne relay, because the fleet would fall outside radio range at low level. Wing Commander Ajit Bhavnani led the escort formation, with Squadron Leaders Bakshi, N A Moitra and J S Panesar on his team. Squadron Leader K G Bewoor flew the relay. Sri Lanka accused India of blatant violation of sovereignty, and India insisted it acted only on humanitarian grounds.
In 1987, the IAF also supported the Indian Peace Keeping Force in northern and eastern Sri Lanka during Operation Pawan. Its transport and helicopter force flew about 70,000 sorties for nearly 100,000 troops and paramilitary personnel. Not a single aircraft was lost and not a single mission was aborted. An-32s kept a continuous air link between bases in South India and northern Sri Lanka. Mi-8s supported ground forces, and Mi-25s of No. 125 Helicopter Unit gave suppressive fire against militant strong points.
On the night of the 3rd of November 1988, the IAF airlifted a parachute battalion group from Agra non-stop over 2000 km to the Maldives. Maldivian president Gayoom had asked for military help against a mercenary invasion, and the mission was called Operation Cactus. IL-76s of No. 44 Squadron landed at Hulhule at 0030 hours. The paratroopers secured the airfield and restored government rule at Male within hours.
Early that morning, four Mirage 2000s of No. 7 Squadron, led by Wing Commander A V Doc Vaidya, made low-level passes over the islands as a show of force.
The IAF's mandate rests on the Armed Forces Act of 1947, the Constitution of India and the Air Force Act of 1950. Defending the nation against air threats alongside the Army and Navy is its primary objective. Assisting civil power during natural calamities and internal disturbances is secondary. The IAF gave extensive help in relief operations after the cyclone of 1998, the tsunami of 2004 and the floods of 2013. It also flew Operation Rainbow in Sri Lanka, and its duties include evacuating Indian nationals from unstable foreign countries.
On the 11th of May 1999, the IAF was called in to give close air support to the Army at the height of the Kargil conflict, using helicopters. The strike was code named Operation Safed Sagar. The first strikes followed on the 26th of May, when fighters and helicopter gunships hit infiltrator positions. MiG-27s flew the offensive sorties, with MiG-21s and later MiG-29s covering them. Srinagar Airport was closed to civilian traffic and dedicated to the IAF.
The next day, the 27th of May, the IAF lost a MiG-21 and a MiG-27 in quick succession. The day after, three Stinger missiles shot down a Mi-17 on an offensive sortie, killing its entire crew of four. The IAF then withdrew helicopters from offensive roles because of the threat from man-portable air-defence systems.
On the 30th of May, Mirage 2000s entered the offensive role. They performed better in the high-altitude conditions, countered the man-portable threat better than the MiGs, and could raid at night. MiG-29s escorted them extensively. Radar transmissions from Pakistani F-16s were picked up repeatedly, but those aircraft stayed away.
The Mirages hit enemy camps and logistic bases and severely disrupted supply lines. They struck Muntho Dhalo and the heavily defended Tiger Hill, paving the way for their early recapture. At the height of the conflict, the IAF flew over forty sorties daily over the Kargil region. By the 26th of July, Indian forces had repulsed the Pakistani forces from Kargil.
On the 10th of August 1999, IAF MiG-21s intercepted a Pakistan Navy Breguet Atlantique flying over Sir Creek, a disputed territory. The aircraft was shot down, killing all 16 Pakistani Navy personnel aboard. India claimed it was gathering information on IAF air defence. Pakistan emphatically rejected this and argued that the unarmed aircraft was on a training mission.
On the 7th of June 2002, a PAF F-16B shot down an IAF Searcher II reconnaissance drone with an AIM-9L Sidewinder during a night interception near Lahore. On the 2nd of August 2002, the IAF bombed Pakistani posts along the Line of Control in the Kel sector.
On the 20th of August 2013, an IAF C-130J of the Veiled Vipers squadron, based at Hindon Air Force Station, made the highest landing of its type. It touched down at the Daulat Beg Oldi airstrip in Ladakh at 5065 m, a world record. On the 13th of July 2014, two MiG-21s from Jodhpur Air Base checked a Turkish Airlines aircraft over Jaisalmer that repeated an identification code given by another passenger plane. Both flights were cleared to proceed to Mumbai and Delhi after their credentials were verified.
In 2019, the Pulwama attack, carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed, killed forty servicemen of the Central Reserve Police Force. Tensions rose, and twelve IAF Mirage 2000s struck alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed bases in Chakothi and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. They also hit an alleged training camp at Balakot, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan said the aircraft only bombed forest near the village of Jaba, 19 km from Balakot, and felled pine trees. Indian officials said they killed a large number of terrorists.
On the 27th of February 2019, Pakistani Mirage-5 and JF-17 fighters allegedly attacked ground targets across the Line of Control in retaliation. IAF Su-30MKI and MiG-21 jets intercepted them, and a dogfight followed. According to India, a MiG-21 flown by Abhinandan Varthaman shot down a PAF F-16, but Pakistan denied using F-16s. Pakistan said it shot down a MiG-21 and a Su-30MKI, while India said only the MiG-21 was lost.
Varthaman ejected safely but landed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. A few locals assaulted him before the Pakistani military captured him. After a couple of days, Pakistan released him under the Third Geneva Convention. The IAF presented remnants of AMRAAM missiles, which only PAF F-16s carry, as proof of F-16 involvement. In April 2019, unnamed US officials told Foreign Policy magazine that an audit found no Pakistani F-16s missing, though the United States did not confirm this.
On the 7th of May 2025, the IAF launched Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam attack. India described it as an intelligence-driven strike on nine terrorist camps across the Line of Control and deeper inside Pakistan. Targets included the Nur Khan and Rahimyar Khan air bases. The Integrated Air Command and Control System coordinated the effort in real time. Indian accounts say fighters and loitering munitions evaded or jammed Chinese-origin Pakistani air defences, and that the mission took just 23 minutes.
Reports about the weapons remain incomplete. They point to decoy and anti-radiation drones such as the IAI Harop. They also mention long-range stand-off weapons, including the BrahMos and SCALP cruise missiles and the Israeli-origin Crystal Maze and Rampage missiles. India said more than 100 terrorists were neutralised across nine terror hubs. It also said the strikes set back Pakistan's air power by five years through damage to radar coverage, command systems and critical assets.
In the early hours of the 10th of May, India struck at least eleven more sites across Pakistan. Airbases came first, at Nur Khan near Rawalpindi, Rafiqui, Rahim Yar Khan and Sukkur. Strikes followed on the Sarghoda, Bholari and Jacobabad airbases. Targets also included command and drone-related sites at Murid and radar sites at Chunian, Arifwala and Pasrur. At certain bases, including Sarghoda and Rahim Yar Khan, the IAF cratered runways to disable flight operations temporarily. Indian officials called this a swift response to sustained Pakistani drone attacks.
On the 9th of August 2025, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh said a large aircraft had been shot down at a distance of 300 km, along with five fighter aircraft. He credited most of these to the S-400 missile system. Speaking in Bengaluru, he called the long-range engagement the longest recorded surface-to-air kill that could be publicly acknowledged. A senior IAF official said such engagements are rarely confirmed because of classification and verification problems. Radar and electronic tracking reportedly confirmed the destruction.
The Austrian analyst Tom Cooper suggested the downed aircraft might have been a SAAB 2000, the military variant carrying the Erieye system. Group Captain Animesh Patni was reportedly awarded the Vir Chakra for a 314-km surface-to-air strike. Cooper later endorsed the claim of six Pakistani aircraft shot down and added that even more were destroyed on the ground.
Outside analysts offered differing readings. Cooper called India a clear winner of the air battle. He also said the strikes on Mushaf Airbase on the 10th of May likely blocked access to a nuclear weapons facility. Walter Ladwig of the Royal United Services Institute described a precise, disciplined strike on terrorist targets that avoided escalation. He noted that restraint on both sides might signal more stable crisis management under nuclear conditions.
Former US Air Force pilot Ryan Bodenheimer called the X-Guard decoy system a major leap in electronic warfare. He described it as the best spoofing we have ever seen. Business Today, citing Jane's Defence Weekly, suggested that some claimed Rafale kills may have been hits on these decoys. India's defence attache to Indonesia, Captain Shiva Kumar, said Indian forces shifted strategy after the 7th of May. By his account, suppressing enemy air defences brought complete air superiority from the 8th to the 10th of May.
Tommy Tamtomo of the Indonesia Center of Air Power Studies said the PAF lost six fighter jets, two airborne warning and control aircraft and a military transport plane. At a Royal Thai Air Force conference, Air Marshal Sommai Leelitham highlighted precise, loss-free IAF strikes on multiple Pakistani bases. The Thai report described a three-phase approach using dummy aircraft, loitering munitions and precision missile strikes from Rafale, Mirage 2000 and Su-30MKI jets.
The Indian Air Force is divided into five operational commands and two functional ones, each headed by an Air Marshal. Central Air Command sits in Prayagraj, Eastern in Shillong, Southern in Thiruvananthapuram, South Western in Gandhinagar and Western in New Delhi. The functional commands are Training Command in Bengaluru and Maintenance Command in Nagpur. Operational commands conduct military operations in their areas. Functional commands keep the force combat ready.
At the top, the Chief of the Air Staff, an Air Chief Marshal, handles the bulk of operational command. There is never more than one serving Air Chief Marshal at a time. The President of India serves as Supreme Commander. About 47 wings and 19 forward base support units make up the service. Wings usually hold two or three squadrons and are commanded by an air commodore. A fighter squadron has 18 aircraft under a wing commander. Flights are led by a squadron leader, and the smallest unit, a section of three aircraft, is led by a flight lieutenant.
The Garud Commando Force was first conceived in 2002 and officially established on the 6th of February 2004. Its volunteers undergo 52 weeks of basic training. Tasks include counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, rescuing downed pilots in hostile territory and guiding airstrikes with laser designators.
The Defence Space Agency draws on all three services to run India's space-warfare and satellite intelligence assets. India currently has 10 military satellites. The IAF also operates the Integrated Space Cell with the other two branches, the Department of Space and the Indian Space Research Organisation.
The Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team was formed in 1996, and its name is Sanskrit for Sun Rays. Thirteen pilots fly nine BAE Hawk Mk.132 jets in day-glo orange and white. The team gained squadron status in 2006 as 52 Squadron, the Sharks, and is based at Bidar. The helicopter team Sarang, Sanskrit for Peacock, formed in October 2003 and first performed publicly at the Asian Aerospace Show in Singapore in 2004. It flies red and white Dhruv helicopters from Sulur.
On the 1st of March 2022, the IAF counted 12,143 officers and 138,994 enlisted personnel. In 2025, the International Institute for Strategic Studies listed active strength at 149,900. Officers enter at one of four levels and are commissioned as Flying Officers. Airmen are chosen through All India Selection Tests at 15 Airmen Selection Centres. Sachin Tendulkar became the first sportsperson, and the first civilian without an aviation background, to receive the honorary rank of group captain.
In 2025, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the IAF had approximately 1750 aircraft, including 721 combat capable fixed-wing aircraft. Russian types dominate the inventory, alongside British, French, Israeli, American and Indian ones. The Sukhoi Su-30MKI, with 260 in service, is the primary air superiority fighter. The MiG-29, called Baaz, meaning Hawk, is the second line of defence. The Mirage 2000 is called Vajra, and the Jaguar is called Shamsher. The Il-76 transport is known as Gajraj, or King Elephant.
As of April 2026, the IAF has 29 combat squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 42. Squadron strength peaked at 41 in 1996 and fell to 35 in 2013 and 31 in 2025. The first Tejas unit, No. 45 Squadron, the Flying Daggers, formed on the 1st of July 2016. The IAF has also proposed renaming itself the Indian Air and Space Force as part of its drive to become a credible space power.
Updated
Common questions
When was the Indian Air Force established?
The Indian Air Force was officially established on the 8th of October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of British India. Its first squadron, No. 1 Squadron, was commissioned on the 1st of April 1933 with four Westland Wapiti biplanes and five Indian pilots.
Who was Arjan Singh in the Indian Air Force?
Arjan Singh was the first and so far only five-star officer of the Indian Air Force. The President of India conferred on him the rank of Marshal of the Air Force on the 26th of January 2002.
How many personnel does the Indian Air Force have?
As of January 2025, 135,000 personnel are in service with the Indian Air Force. In 2025 the International Institute for Strategic Studies listed active personnel strength at 149,900.
What did the Indian Air Force do in the 1971 war with Pakistan?
In the 1971 war the Indian Air Force flew over 16,000 sorties and achieved air superiority on the eastern front. It also gave close air support to the Army, helped the Navy, and bombed targets such as oil installations in Karachi and the Mangla Dam.
What was Operation Cactus of the Indian Air Force?
Operation Cactus was an IAF mission on the night of the 3rd of November 1988 to help the Maldives against a mercenary invasion. It airlifted a parachute battalion group from Agra over 2000 km non-stop, and the paratroopers secured the airfield and restored government rule at Male within hours.
What is the Garud Commando Force of the Indian Air Force?
The Garud Commando Force is the special forces unit of the Indian Air Force. It was first conceived in 2002 and officially established on the 6th of February 2004, and its tasks include counter-terrorism, hostage rescue and rescuing downed pilots in hostile territory.
How many combat squadrons does the Indian Air Force have?
As of April 2026, the Indian Air Force has 29 combat squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 42. Squadron strength peaked at 41 in 1996.
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- 143Unstarred Ques no. 4929, Lok SabhaAjay Bhatt — 1 April 2022
- 144Career Opportunities as an Officer: Intermediate (10+2)Indian Air Force
- 145Career Opportunities as an Officer: GraduateIndian Air Force
- 146Career Opportunities as an Officer: EngineerIndian Air Force
- 147Career Opportunities as an Officer: Post GraduateIndian Air Force
- 148Career Opportunities as an OfficerIndian Air Force
- 150Central Airmen Selection BoardIndian Air Force
- 152IAF clips Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni wings8 October 2012
- 153Soldier or Servant? The Quint Exposes Army's Abused Sahayak System24 February 2017
- 154Non Combatant(Enrolled) – Pension ChartPrincipal Controller of Defence Accounts
- 155AFRO Career PlanningIndian Air Force
- 159NewsDefence panel recommends DRDO, PSU, private sector collaboration for IAF's AtmanirbhartaManu Pubby — 2025-03-03
- 161NewsLCA Tejas makes successful flight23 April 2010
- 166NewsIndia clears deal to manufacture LCA Mk1A 'Tejas' fighter jets for the air forceManu Pubby — The Times Group — 13 January 2021
- 168NewsMig-29UPG modernization near completion at 11 BRDBusiness-standard.com — 22 September 2016
- 169NewsTwo IAF Mirage aircraft flown to France for upgradation6 December 2011
- 170NewsFrench jet Rafale bags $20bn IAF fighter order; India 'briefs' losing European countries1 February 2012
- 171MiG-21 a relic that continues to flyTribune News Service — 20 July 2018
- 172IAF aiming for Diverse Capabilities, says Vice Chief of Air StaffV.P. Naik — India Strategic — 26 September 2008
- 173HAL To Tie-Up With BAE Systems For Jaguar Upgrade30 November 2009
- 174NewsIndia Renews Indigenous AWACS EffortsNeelam Mathews
- 175NewsFirst AWACS aircraft lands at Jamnagar air base in Gujarat26 May 2009
- 177Modi govt okays 6 more 'eyes in the sky' for IAF, DRDO project to cost Rs 11,000 croreSnehesh Alex Philip — 2021-09-09
- 178NewsIAF to get 5th IL-78 refueller soonAmit Mukherjee — 29 September 2004
- 179JournalThe PLA-AF's Aerial Refuelling ProgrammesCarlo Kopp — 7 July 2007
- 180Illyushin Il-76MD Candid Gajraj30 November 1999
- 181C-17 Globemaster: IAF's new heavy lift transport aircraft28 April 2010
- 182IAF completes C-17 test-flightRahul Bedi — 5 July 2010
- 183Indian Air Force :: Illyushin 76MD, 78MKI, A-50 – SerialsTransport (1985 Current) — Bharat-rakshak.com
- 184India set to decide big military aircraft dealsIndia Strategic
- 186IAF Super Hercules Crash: 5 Air Force Personnel killed in Gwaliornews.biharprabha.com — 28 March 2014
- 187Deals for Acquisition of C-130 J Super Hercules (Press Release)7 December 2011
- 188IAF An-32 planes in Ukraine for upgrades21 March 2010
- 190Dornier 228Bharat Rakshak
- 191Boeing 737Bharat Rakshak
- 192Embraer EMB135 LegacyBharat Rakshak
- 193NewsApril 1 date for President with business jets16 March 2009
- 194HAL HS 748M AvroBharat Rakshak
- 195NewsIAF inducts C-295 tactical aircraft, first of 56 'Rhinos'2023-09-26
- 196IAF gets ready with warehouse ahead of C-295 induction into IAFDalip Singh — 2023-07-24
- 197NewsIAF gives nod for HPT-32 revivalRavi Sharma — 16 May 2010
- 198NewsIAF-HAL conclude ₹6,800 crore contract for 70 HTT-40 trainer aircraftDinakar Peri — 2022-10-20
- 199HAL HJT-16 Kiran Mk.1/1ABharat Rakshak
- 200HAL HJT-16 Kiran Mk.IIBharat Rakshak
- 203IAF's Surya Kirans to fly Hawk's10 October 2010
- 204NewsIndia inks deal with BAE for 57 Hawk aircraft28 July 2010
- 205NewsIndia Inks World's Largest Microlight Aircraft Deal With Slovenian FirmArming India — 12 October 2015
- 206India inks Rs 130-crore deal for 194 microlight aircraftThe Financial Express — 12 October 2015
- 207HAL Dhruv
- 212Russia continues to dominate Indian military aviationGulshan Luthra and Air Marshal Ashok Goel (Retd) — India Strategic — August 2010
- 214Searcher Mk II Delivered To Indiaisraeli-weapons.com
- 215Heron MALE System—Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAVdefence-update.com
- 216NewsAir Force hunts for combat dronesRajat Pandit — 5 July 2010
- 217Press Information BureauGovernment of India
- 219India stocks up missile arsenal as it prepares for another tense summer in LadakhAmrita Nayak Dutta — 2020-12-31
- 226Indian air force successfully test fires supersonic cruise missile BrahMosHemant Kumar Rout — 2016-05-27
- 227Press releaseIAF Chief inaugurates state-of-the-art BRAHMOS Technical PositionBrahMos Aerospace — 2014-12-09
- 228NewsIndia signs $8.9 billion Rafale fighter jet deal with FranceTarun Shukla — 2016-09-23
- 229Prithvi5 November 2002
- 230NewsAmid conflict, India approves 120 Pralay missiles for armed forces along China borderManjeet Negi — India Today — 25 December 2022
- 236Why Indian Air Force requires Akash NG SAM when it has MRSAM?Joseph P. Chacko — 2021-01-26
- 237NewsFirst Medium Range Surface to Air Missile Regiment being raised in Eastern TheatreBikash Singh — 2023-02-23
- 238Full List of India's Air Defence System-Shield of IndiaSheershoo Deb — 2020-08-23
- 242India prepares Israeli SPYDER air defence missile system for Pakistan border28 February 2017
- 244NewsIndian 'Jugaad'! IAF Converts Obsolete Russian Air-To-Air Missiles Into Surface-To-Air Systems; Experts PerplexedParth Satam — The Eurasian Times — 23 October 2022
- 246BookSmall Arms Survey 2004: Rights at RiskSmall Arms Survey — Oxford University Press — 2004
- 248India receives fresh batch of Igla-S air defence system from Russia, to be deployed at LACSmruti Deshpande — 2024-04-08
- 251NewsPurchase of indigenous air defence guns, ammunition worth Rs 6,000 crore clearedEconomic Times — 4 June 2021
- 252NewsDrones, Missiles, Radars, Fighter jets: Indian armed forces to get nearly 1 lakh crore infusion for game-changer techSarahbeth George — 2024-02-25
- 253The clearance for IAF include the following ✅₹7000 crore worth contract for 240 units of Sudarshan...2024-02-22
- 254NewsIAF fighter squadrons to rise to 42 by 2022: Antony18 February 2009
- 255IAF goes full throttle to turn into an 'aerospace power'Rajat Pandit — 11 December 2023
- 257Parrikar: India to Kick Off Competition for New Foreign Single-Engine FightersVivek Raghuvanshi — 3 January 2017
- 261India canvasses global suppliers for stealthy UCAV7 July 2010
- 262NewsIAF chief receives 1st LCA trainer from HAL, 7 more to come by Mar '244 October 2023
- 263NewsContract signed for 83 LCA Tejas fighters, all eyes now on HAL delivery schedule3 February 2021
- 267NewsIndigenous light choppers get go-ahead, delivery in 2022Manu Pubby — 2021-03-23
- 269Indian air force orders Harop loitering munitionsArie Egozi — 9 April 2010
- 272NewsLighter version of Saras aircraft to fly out next year26 June 2008
- 275NewsIndia developing UAV similar to American Predator drone14 November 2011
- 276NewsIndia's first ever advanced Indian Unmanned Strike Air Vehicle will be ready for Air Force operationsShiv Aroor — 2 July 2012
- 277NewsLeap of technology: HAL to launch unmanned fighter jet4 February 2021
- 278NewsAll about India's Warrior Drone: Air power teaming system explained10 February 2021
- 279NewsNext-generation surface-to-air Akash missile successfully test-firedHemant Kumar Rout
- 281IAF's AFNET NCW Backbone Goes Live Next Week8 September 2010
- 283BookKargil 1999, Impregnable ConqueredY.M. Bammi — Gorkha Publishers — 2002
- 284BookThe Dynamics of SoldieringKuldip Singh Bajwa — Har-Anand Publications — 2005
- 285BookThe State at War in South AsiaPradeep Barua — University of Nebraska Press — 2005
- 286BookAir Warfare: An International EncyclopediaWalter J. Boyne et al. — ABC-CLIO — 2002
- 287BookLow Intensity Conflicts in IndiaVivek Chadha — SAGE — 2005
- 288BookWings That Stay onEd Coggins — Turner Publishing Company — 2000
- 289BookThe Asian Conventional Military Balance in 2006: Overview of major Asian PowersAnthony H. Cordesman et al. — Center for Strategic & International Studies — 2006
- 290BookIndia-Pakistan in War & PeaceJyotindra Nath Dixit — Routledge — 2002
- 291BookFar East and Australasia 2003Europa Publications — Europa Publications — 2005
- 292BookNuclear Proliferation in South AsiaSumit Ganguly et al. — Taylor & Francis — 2008
- 293BookBuilding an Arsenal: The Evolution of Regional Power Force StructuresAmit Gupta — Greenwood Publishing Group — 1997
- 294BookHimalayan Perceptions: Environmental Change and the Well-being of Mountain PeoplesJack D. Ives — Routledge — 2004
- 295BookThe Military Balance 2002/2003International Institute for Strategic Studies — International Institute for Strategic Studies — 2002
- 296BookThe Military Balance 2010International Institute for Strategic Studies — Routledge — 3 February 2010
- 297BookThe Military Balance 2025International Institute for Strategic Studies — Routledge — 2025
- 298BookBritain's Economy: The Roots of StagnationAubrey Jones — Cambridge University Press — 1985
- 299BookPakistan: Eye of the StormOwen Bennett Jones — Yale University Press — 2003
- 300BookRed Air: Politics in Russian Air PowerSanu Kainikara — Universal Publishers — 2007
- 301BookDangerous Deterrent: Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Conflict in South AsiaS. Paul Kapur — Stanford University Press — 2007
- 302BookA Textbook of Agricultural Extension ManagementK.R. Karthikeyan et al. — Atlantic Publishers & Distributors — 2008
- 303BookAir Power and Challenges to IAFJ.A. Khan — APH Publishing — 2004
- 304BookConflict Between India and Pakistan: An EncyclopediaPeter Lyon — ABC-CLIO — 2008
- 305BookAzaadi!Reginald Massey — Abhinav Publications — 2005
- 306BookDebacle to Revival: Y.B. Chavan as Defence Minister, 1962–65R.D. Pradhan — Orient Blackswan — 1999
- 307Book1965 War, the Inside Story: Defence Minister Y.B. Chavan's Diary of India-Pakistan WarR. D. Pradhan et al. — Atlantic Publishers & Distributors — 2007
- 308BookIndia's Paratroopers (A History of the Parachute Regiment of India)Karam Chand Praval — Leo Cooper, London — 1975
- 309BookIndia Divided: Diversity and Democracy Under AttackVandana Shiva — Seven Stories Press — 2005
- 310BookEmerging India: Security and Foreign Policy PerspectivesN.S. Sisodia et al. — Bibliophile South Asia — 2005
- 311BookWar and Secession: Pakistan, India, and the Creation of BangladeshRichard Sisson et al. — University of California Press — 1991
- 312BookEngaging India: diplomacy, democracy, and the bombStrobe Talbott — Brookings Institution Press — 2006
- 313BookIndia's Security Environment: Towards the Year 2000Raju G.C. Thomas — DIANE Publishing — 1996
- 314BookIndian Air Force in warsAK, Air Vice Marshal Tiwary — Lancer — 2012
- 315BookHimalayan Frontiers of India: Historical, Geo-Political and Strategic PerspectivesK. Warikoo — Taylor & Francis — 2009
- 316BookNorth American F-86 SABREStewart Wilson — Wilson Media Pty, Limited — 2002
- 317Pradhan (2010) p. 185Pradhan — 2010