List of historical aircraft of the Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force is one of the three constituents of the Indian Armed Forces. ^[1] It was established in 1932. ^[2]

The Air Force operates a combination of combat, reconnaissance, transport aircraft, and helicopters. ^[3] 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. ^[4]

Aircraft

Westland Wapiti, the first aircraft flown by the Royal Indian Air Force

Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber in the early 1950s

English Electric Canberra medium bomber introduced in the 1950s

Dassault Ouragan fighter-bomber introduced in 1953

Dassault Mystere IV being armed in September 1965

Sukhoi Su-7 fighter-bomber from the 1970s

HAL HPT-32 Deepak trainer aircraft

MiG-23 fighter aircraft introduced in 1981

MiG-27 fighter used from the mid 1980s to 2010s

Name	Origin	Primary role(s)	Introduced	Retired	Count	Notes
Before 1947
Westland Wapiti	United Kingdom	Liaison	1933	1942	28	[5]
Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta	United Kingdom	Transport	1941	1944	5
Avro Anson I	United Kingdom	Basic trainer	1942	1945	7	[6]
Boulton Paul Defiant TT.III	United Kingdom	Target tug	1944	1945	?
Bristol Blenheim I	United Kingdom	Bomber	1941	1942	5
de Havilland D.H.86B	United Kingdom	Transport	1940	1942	2
de Havilland Dragon Rapide	United Kingdom	Transport	1941	1945	4
de Havilland Tiger Moth	United Kingdom	Basic trainer	1939	1957	192
Douglas Dakota	United States	Transport	1944	1987	206
Fairchild PT-19	United States	Basic trainer	1943	1946	40	[7] [8]
Harlow PC-5A	United States	Transport	1941	1942	4
Hawker Audax	United Kingdom	Liaison	1939	1945	7
Hawker Hart	United Kingdom	Bomber	1939	1942	7
Hawker Hind	United Kingdom	Bomber	1939	1941	6
Hawker Hurricane	United Kingdom	Fighter-bomber	1942	1945	?
North American Harvard Mk.II and 4	Canada	Basic trainer	1942	1973	?
Supermarine Spitfire Vc & VIIIc	United Kingdom	Fighter/Reconnaissance	1943	1948	19	[9]
Vickers Valentia	United Kingdom	Transport	1942	1944	1
Vultee Vengeance	United States	Bomber	1942	1945	35	[10]
Westland Lysander II	United Kingdom	Liaison	1941	1943	25	[11]
Westland Lysander III.T	United Kingdom	Target tug	1941	1942	48	[11]
Airspeed Oxford	United Kingdom	Transport	1946	1949	5
Auster AOP.6	United Kingdom	Liaison	1946	1970	20
Hawker Tempest II	United Kingdom	Fighter	1945	1955	235	[12]
Supermarine Spitfire FR.XIVE & FR.XVIII	United Kingdom	Fighter/Reconnaissance	1945	1957	120	[9]
1947-1970
Aero Ae-45	Czechoslovakia	Transport	1955	1957	1
Antonov An-12	Soviet Union	Transport	1961	1993	65
Auster AOP.9	United Kingdom	Liaison	1955	1981	35
Bell 47G-2	United States	Helicopter	1957	1979	15
Consolidated B-24J Liberator	United States	Bomber	1948	1967	45	[a] [13]
Dassault MD. 450B Ouragan	France	Fighter-bomber	1953	1967	104	[b] [14]
Dassault Mystère MD.454 IVA	France	Fighter-bomber	1957	1973	104
de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter	Canada	Transport	1956	1998	36
de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou	Canada	Transport	1963	1991	26	[15]
de Havilland Devon	United Kingdom	Transport	1947	1991	22
de Havilland Vampire F.3	United Kingdom	Fighter	1948	1955	3
de Havilland Vampire FB.52	United Kingdom	Fighter-bomber	1950	1974	286	[c]
de Havilland Vampire NF.10	United Kingdom	Fighter	1953	1955	30
de Havilland Vampire NF.54	United Kingdom	Fighter	1953	1966	30
de Havilland Vampire PR.55	United Kingdom	Reconnaissance	1954	1965	5	[d]
de Havilland Vampire T.11	United Kingdom	Basic trainer	1963	?	7
de Havilland Vampire T.55	United Kingdom	Basic trainer	1953	1982	124	[e]
English Electric Canberra B(I).58/B(I).66	United Kingdom	Bomber/Reconnaissance	1957	2007	150	[16]
Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar	United States	Transport	1953	1984	89
Folland Fo.141 Gnat F.1	United Kingdom	Fighter	1958	1978	?	[f]
HAL HF-24 Marut Mk.1	India	Fighter-bomber	1961	1985	147	[17]
HAL HT-2	India	Basic trainer	1953	1998	169
Hawker Hunter FGA.56A	United Kingdom	Fighter-bomber	1957	1996	167
Hawker Hunter T.66	United Kingdom	Basic trainer	1959	1992	40
Ilyushin Il-14	Soviet Union	Transport	1955	1981	29
Lockheed Super Constellation	United States	Transport	1961	1981	9
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F-13/FL/PFM/M/bis	Soviet Union	Fighter	1964	2013	332	[g] [18]
Mil Mi-4	Soviet Union	Helicopter	1960	1988	121
North American T-6G Texan	United States	Basic trainer	1973	?
Percival Prentice T.3	United Kingdom	Basic trainer	1947	1963	62	[h]
Sikorsky S-55	United States	Helicopter	1954	1966	8	[i]
Sikorsky S-62B	United States	Helicopter	1960	1979	2
Supermarine Spitfire PR.XI & XIX	United Kingdom	Reconnaissance	1947	1959	15	[9]
Supermarine Spitfire T.IX	United Kingdom	Basic trainer	1947	1955	10
Vickers Viscount	United Kingdom	Transport	1955	1971	2
HAL Krishak	India	Liaison	1965	1988	68
HAL Pushpak	India	Basic trainer	1965	1967	25
Hawker Hunter F. Mk.56	United Kingdom	Fighter	1966	1992	55
Sukhoi Su-7BMK/BKL	Soviet Union	Fighter-bomber	1968	1986	140	[19]
Tupolev Tu-124	Soviet Union	Transport	1966	1981	3
Since 1971
HAL Ajeet Mk.1	India	Fighter	1977	1991	89	[j]
HAL HPT-32 Deepak	India	Primary trainer	1984	2009	144	[20]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23BN	Soviet Union	Fighter-bomber	1981	2009	95	[21]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MF	Soviet Union	Fighter	1982	2007	40
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25RBK/RU	Soviet Union	Reconnaissance	1981	2006	10	[k] [22]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27ML	Soviet Union	Fighter	1985	2019	165	[23]
PZL TS-11 Iskra bis-D	Poland	Basic trainer	1975	2004	76	[l] [24]
SEPECAT Jaguar IS GR.1	United Kingdom/France	Ground attack	1979	1984	16	[m]

See also

• List of active Indian military aircraft
• List of Indian naval aircraft

Notes

1. Ex-RAF World War Two lend-lease bombers refurbished by HAL
2. Target tug from 1965, retired in 1967
3. 247 built under licence by HAL
4. PR.55 were T.55s converted to photo reconnaissance
5. 60 T.55s built under licence by HAL
6. Licence built by HAL
7. Certain variants of MiG-21 remain operational
8. Includes 42 built by HAL
9. Might have been used till 1968
10. Improved Folland Gnat, includes 10 upgraded Gnats
11. 6 MiG-25RBK and 2 MiG-25RU
12. 26 aircraft bought in the 1990s
13. Other variants still operational

References

1. "Indian Armed Forces". Government of India . Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
2. "HC Deb 3 April 1933 vol 276 cc1473-501". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 3 April 1933. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
3. The Military Balance 2024. International Institute of Strategic Studies. 2024. p. 267-270. ISBN   978-1-032-78004-7.
4. "HAL's Maharatna Status: India's Growth Towards Aerospace Industry". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 14 October 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
5. "The Westland Wapiti in Indian Air Force". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 28 July 2013.
6. "No. 1 Service Flying Training School (India)". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 3 August 2012.
7. Andrade 1979, p. 239.
8. "Indian Air Force Gallery :: Training in the IAF". Bharat Rakshak . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
9. "IAF-Spitfire". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 6 December 2007.
10. "History of IAF". Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
11. "Westland Lysander in Indian Air Force Service". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 15 January 2008.
12. "IAF-Tempest". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 24 August 2014.
13. "Consolidated B-24 Liberator". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 12 January 2012.
14. Jackson 1988, p. 76-78.
15. "De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
16. "Canberra Farewell - Revell 1/72 B(I) 58". Bharat Rakshak . Retrieved 1 June 2009.
17. Donald 1997, p. 523.
18. "MiG-21 FL flies into history today after serving the IAF for 50 years". IBN. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
19. "A Whale Of A Fighter: The Su-7 In IAF Service". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 30 December 2009.
20. "HAL HPT-32 Deepak". Bharat Rakshak . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
21. "Last Flight of the MiG-23 BN". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 9 June 2011.
22. Pradhan & Chavan 2007, p. xiv.
23. "MiG-27 goes into history: Legacy of Indian Air Force's bahadur valiant". India Today . 27 December 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
24. "Swansong of the Iskaras". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 18 November 2007.

Bibliography

• Andrade, John M. (1979). U.S. military Aircraft Designations and serials since 1909. Leicester: Midland Counties Publ. ISBN   0 904597 22 9. OCLC   712373993.
• Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London: Aerospace. ISBN   1-85605-375-X.
• Green, William, The Indian Air Force and its Aircraft Ducimus Books, London, 1982, ASIN B004YXNILM
• Jackson, Paul (September–December 1988). "Ouragon: Ancestor of Rafale". Air Enthusiast . No. 37. Bromley, Kent, UK: Pilot Press. pp. 15–24, 75–78. ISSN   0143-5450.
• Pradhan, R. D.; Chavan, Yashwantrao Balwantrao (2007). 1965 War, the Inside Story: Defence Minister Y.B. Chavan's Diary of India-Pakistan War. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. ISBN   978-81-269-0762-5.
• 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