| Directorate of Air Intelligence | |
|---|---|
 Indian Air Force logo at National War Memorial | |
| Active | 1941–Present |
| Country |  India |
| Branch |  Indian Air Force |
| Role | Provide Air Force with accurate and timely Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance |
The Directorate of Air Intelligence is the intelligence arm of the Indian Air Force. It provides timely, accurate and synchronized intelligence support for tactical, operational needs of the Air force.
DAI was set up in 1942 as part of the erstwhile Royal Indian Air Force to provide aerial reconnaissance for both the RIAF and RAF, during WW2. It saw major action in Burma campaign
After Independence, DAI provided intelligence support to the IAF during every major war India fought.
Air Force intelligence responsibilities included imagery intelligence collection through MiG-25R and Jaguar reconnaissance aircraft.
During the 1971 India-Pakistan War, Russian satellite imagery provided India with information on Chinese force deployments. With advances in the Indian space program, the Indian Air Force will be acquiring independent space-based imagery intelligence capabilities. [1]
During Kargil war, DAI played an important role in providing aerial intelligence about occupied posts and bunkers. These targets were later thoroughly bombed by IAF as a part of Operation Safed Sagar.
A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications.
Imagery intelligence (IMINT), pronounced as either as Im-Int or I-Mint, is an intelligence gathering discipline wherein imagery is analyzed to identify information of intelligence value. Imagery used for defense intelligence purposes is generally collected via satellite imagery or aerial photography.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national security. Initially known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) from 1996 to 2003, it is a member of the United States Intelligence Community.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. federal government. It provides satellite intelligence to several government agencies, particularly signals intelligence (SIGINT) to the NSA, imagery intelligence (IMINT) to the NGA, and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) to the DIA. The NRO announced in 2023 that it plans within the following decade to quadruple the number of satellites it operates and increase the number of signals and images it delivers by a factor of ten.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire which honoured India's aviation service during World War II with the prefix Royal. After India gained independence from United Kingdom in 1947, the name Royal Indian Air Force was kept and served in the name of the Dominion of India. With the transition to a republic in 1950, the prefix Royal was removed.
The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the Indian Army, and Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire.
The Eastern Air Command is one of the five operational commands of the Indian Air Force. Currently headquartered in Shillong in Meghalaya. Named No. 1 Operational Group at the time of its inception, 27 May 1958, it was based at Ranikutir in Kolkata as a part of the Govt's increasing emphasis on defence of the eastern borders. The Operational Group was upgraded as Command on 1 December 1959 with headquarters at Fort William, Kolkata and Air Vice Marshal KL Sondhi as the first AOC-in-C of the Eastern Command. After the 1962 Indo-Chinese War, The decision was made to raise a full-fledged command at Shillong. The area of responsibility of the command now covers 11 states, and is bound by the international boundaries of Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh incorporating 6300 km of common border. Eastern Air Command now has permanent airbases at Chabua, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Barrackpore, Hasimara, Jorhat, Kalaikunda and Tezpur with forward airbases at Agartala, Kolkata, Panagarh and Shillong. Eastern Air Command consists of Air Defence squadrons consisting of the MiG-21 and Ground attack squadrons consisting of the MiG-27. It holds the motto "Samareshu Parakramaha",
The Aviation Research Centre (ARC) is India's imagery intelligence organisation, a part of the Directorate General of Security, run by the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). It started functioning in November 1962, in the wake of the Sino-Indian War, as an extension of the Intelligence Bureau, but placed under the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force. Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by the Central Armed Police Forces, Indian Coast Guard and Special Frontier Force and various inter-service commands and institutions such as the Strategic Forces Command, the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Integrated Defence Staff. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces but the executive authority and responsibility for national security is vested in the Prime Minister of India and their chosen Cabinet Ministers. The Indian Armed Forces are under the management of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India. With strength of over 1.4 million active personnel, it is the world's second-largest military force and has the world's largest volunteer army. It also has the third-largest defence budget in the world. The Global Firepower Index report lists it as the fourth most-powerful military.
Charbatia Air Base is located approximately 12 km north of Cuttack, Odisha in eastern India. It is an aerial reconnaissance post of the intelligence agency's aviation unit, the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). The Research and Analysis Wing, India's primary foreign intelligence agency, operates intelligence collection aircraft through the ARC. The aircraft are fitted with electronic surveillance equipment and long range cameras capable of taking pictures of targets from high altitudes.
The Indian Air Force was established on 8 October 1932 independently of the army and navy and in a similar format to the British Royal Air Force. It had been a recommendation of the Skeen Committee, which had been tasked to look into demands for the Indianisation of the Indian army. Its first squadron was raised on 1 April 1933.
The Directorate of Military Intelligence (M.I.) is the Intelligence arm of the Indian Army. The primary mission of military intelligence is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence support to tactical, operational and strategic-level needs of the army.
Kalaikunda Air Force Station (ICAO: VEDX) is an Indian Air Force Base in Kharagpur, located in the West Midnapur district of the state of West Bengal. It was the home of No. 18 Squadron IAF, the Flying Bullets. The squadron flew the Indian license-built Mikoyan MiG-27ML till its decommissioning in April 2016. A squadron of Su-30 MKIs is now at the base.
The United States Air Force's 497th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is an intelligence unit located at Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia.
Air Force Station Hindon is an Indian Air Force base under the Western Air Command (WAC). It is the biggest and largest air base in Asia. Its area measured 14 km rounded and 10.25 square kilometres (3.96 sq mi). This base celebrates Air Force Day on 8 October. It is located near Loni Ghaziabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh in the National Capital Region on the outskirts of Delhi, close to the Hindon River. Starting 2006, the annual Air Force Day Parade venue was shifted from Palam Airport to Hindon. There is one runway, aligned east–west (09-27), of 9,000 feet (2,700 m) length x 150 feet (46 m) width. The military airbase serves as the home of the IAF C-17 Globemaster and the IAF C-130J Super Hercules, the backbone of Strategic Heavy Air Lift division of the Indian Air Force. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) operates a civil enclave at Hindon as part of the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
The 24th Intelligence Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The squadron was first activated as the 24th Observation Squadron during World War II. it conducted aerial reconnaissance training, until converting to the photographic mission as the 33d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron. it deployed to the European Theater of Operations, where it conducted combat reconnaissance missions, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation and being cited in the Belgian Army Order of the Day on two occasions. It remained in Europe following V-E Day, becoming non operational in August 1945. Its ground echelon returned to the United States in the fall of 1945 and it was inactivated at the port of embarkation.
The Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre (DIFC) is based at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire. Largely created from the staff of the National Imagery Exploitation Centre and then known for several years as the Defence Geospatial Intelligence Fusion Centre, it can trace its history back to clandestine reconnaissance operations at the beginning of the Second World War by Sydney Cotton on behalf of MI6 and then MI4, and the formation of the Allied Central Interpretation Unit at RAF Medmenham.
Aviation in India can be broadly divided into military and civil aviation. India has an extensive civilian air transportation network and is amongst the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Group Captain Virendera Singh Pathania, VrC, VM, was an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot reputed for making the first confirmed aerial dogfight kill of independent India when he shot down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Sabre Jet with his Folland Gnat on 4 September 1965. For this action, he was awarded the Vir Chakra.
The No. 15 Squadron, nicknamed Cobras, is a tactical attack squadron of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The Squadron is currently based at PAF Base Minhas in Kamra, Punjab, Pakistan and equipped with Chengdu J-10C multirole fighter jets. The Squadron also carries the honour of achieving the first kill for the PAF.
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