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.
Aero India is a biennial air show and aviation exhibition held in Bengaluru, India, at the Yelahanka Air Force Station. It is organised by the Defence Exhibition Organisation, Ministry of Defence.
The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a two-seater, twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, it is a heavy, all-weather, long-range fighter.
Rajnath Singh is an Indian politician and lecturer, and the 25th Defence Minister of India since 2019. He was also the Deputy Leader of the House, Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024. He was the 8th President of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2014. He is a veteran leader of the BJP who started his career as a swayamsevak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
The Ambala Air Force Station is an Air Force base situated north of the urban Ambala Cantt area in Haryana, India. The Ambala Air Force Station is the home to the first batch of advance multirole fighter jet Dassault Rafales that have been inducted to Indian Air Force.
The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition in India, also known as the MRCA tender, was a competition to supply 126 multi-role combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Defence Ministry had allocated ₹55,000 crore (US$6.6 billion) at 2008 prices for the purchase of these aircraft, making it India's single largest defence deal. The MMRCA tender was floated with the idea of filling the gap between its future Light Combat Aircraft and its in-service Sukhoi Su-30MKI air superiority fighter.
The Embassy of India in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of India to the United States. It is headed by the Indian Ambassador to the United States. The current Ambassador is Vinay Mohan Kwatra.
The Indian Air Force has been undergoing a modernization program to replace and upgrade outdated equipment since the late 1990s to meet modern standards. For that reason, it has started procuring and developing aircraft, weapons, associated technologies, and infrastructures. Some of these programs date back to the late 1980s. The primary focus of current modernization and upgrades is to replace aircraft purchased from the Soviet Union that currently form the backbone of the air force.
The Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. It is referred to as an "omnirole" 4.5th generation aircraft by Dassault.
No. 17 Squadron is a squadron of the Indian Air Force stationed at the Ambala Air Force Station as part of the Western Air Command. The squadron was number-plated in 2016, but was resurrected in Ambala on 11 September 2019 with the Dassault Rafale.
Hasimara Air ForceStation is an Indian Air Force (IAF) base located in Alipurduar district, West Bengal, India. Hasimara is located strategically near the Indo-Bhutan border. It is also the closest Indian air base to the Chumbi Valley - the tri-junction between the Indian state of Sikkim, Bhutan and the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The DRDO Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) is a long-range precision-guided anti-airfield weapon developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is designed to be capable of engaging ground targets with high precision up to a range of 100 kilometres (62 mi).
The Rafale deal controversy is a political controversy in India related to the purchase of 36 Rafale multirole fighter aircraft for a price estimated at €7.87 billion by the Defence Ministry of India from France's Dassault Aviation. The origin of the deal lies in the Indian MMRCA competition, a multi-billion dollar contract to supply 126 multi-role combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) with a transfer of technology.
Harsh Vardhan Shringla is Chief Coordinator for India’s G20 Presidency in 2023. He has previously served as Foreign Secretary of India and India's Ambassador to the United States, High Commissioner to Bangladesh, and Ambassador to Thailand.
Vinay Mohan Kwatra, is an Indian diplomat. He has served as the 34th Foreign Secretary of India, from May 2022 till August 2024 and is the Ambassador of India to the United States starting from 13 August 2024. Previously, he has served as the Ambassador of India to France and Nepal.
Air Vice Marshal Hilal Ahmed Rather VM, VSM is an Indian Air Force air vice marshal from Kashmir in India. Since 2016, he serves as the Indian air attaché in Paris, and organized the supply of the Dassault Rafale to the Indian Air Force.
Vikram Misri is an Indian diplomat. He currently serves as the 35th Foreign Secretary of India, having taken over from Vinay Mohan Kwatra in July 2024. Previously, he served as the Deputy National Security Advisor of India from 1 January 2022, succeeding Pankaj Saran till 14 July 2024. Whereas, he has served as the ambassador of India to China from January 2019 to December 2021.
