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.
Sarang is an aerobatic air display team of the Indian Air Force. Formally established as the No. 151 Helicopter Unit in 2005, the unit flies five modified HAL Dhruv helicopters and is based out of Sulur Air Force Station near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, was a senior air officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the 3rd Chief of the Air Staff from 1964 to 1969, leading the Air Force through the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was the first and only officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be promoted to five-star rank as Marshal of the Indian Air Force, equal to the army rank of Field Marshal.
Idris Hasan Latif, PVSM was a former air officer in the Indian Air Force. He served as the 10th Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) from 1978 to 1981. After retiring from the air force, he served as 11th Governor of Maharashtra from 1982 to 1985.
No.109 Helicopter Unit (Knights) is a squadron of the Indian Air Force. Raised on August 26, 1961 equipped with Mi 4s, it later converted to Mi 8s in 1974, which were further replaced by Mi-17 V5 in 2016. Based at Sulur Air Force Station, it currently forms a part of the Southern Air Command.
No. 4 Squadron IAF (Oorials) is a fighter squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF) equipped with the Su-30 MKI, based at Jodhpur Air Force Station in Jodhpur in, Rajasthan, India. Since its establishment during the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, No. 4 Squadron remains the only fighter squadron other than No. 3 Squadron IAF and No. 7 Squadron IAF to remain continuously in existence in the service of India.
Thanjavur Air Force Station is an Indian Air Force base serving the city of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located 12 km (7.5 mi) south-west of the city in Pilaiyarpatti and near the village of Ravusapatti. The air force base was expected to start functioning by 2012. However, the schedule was delayed, and the air force base was inaugurated on 27 May 2013 by the then Minister of Defence, A. K. Antony.
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.
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).
Sulur Air Force Station is an air base of the Indian Air Force located at Sulur near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and is India's second largest air base after Hindon AFS. It is the base which is responsible for protection of India's sea area. It is the only base in India which handles both fighter and transport flights at one location; no other base in India is equipped to do so. It is also the only IAF base in India to have all Departments at one location: fighters, carrier planes, carrier helicopters, attack helicopters, a repair and overhauling depot, TETTRA school, Garud Force, Air Force Hospital, Southern Command Sub Headquarters, & ECHS. It is a former Royal Navy and Indian Navy base.
INS Hansa, is an Indian naval air station located near Dabolim in Goa, India. It is India's biggest naval airbase. The military air base has a civil enclave, that operates as Dabolim Airport.
No. 222 Squadron(Tigersharks) is a maritime strike unit based out of Thanjavur. It is the first Sukhoi Su-30 MKI squadron based in southern India and is the also the first squadron equipped with air launched BrahMos cruise missile.
No. 18 Squadron, is an air-defence unit of the Indian Air Force, flying from Naliya Air Force Station. The squadron is equipped with indigenous HAL Tejas MK1 in FOC configuration.
No. 26 Squadron IAF (Warriors) is the Ground Attack and Close Air Support unit of the Indian Air Force, operating from Pathankot Air Force Station under India's Western Air Command. The squadron was number plated on an unspecified date.
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.
The Air Headquarters Communication Squadron (Pegasus)(AHQCS) of the Indian Air Force is based at Air Force Station Palam, New Delhi. It is a transport squadron which maintains a fleet of aircraft with the primary aim of providing air transport to the President, Vice President and Prime Minister of India, within and outside the country, and to visiting foreign heads of State, categorized as VVIPs.
No. 45 Squadron Indian Air Force is a Fighter Squadron internally based at Sulur AFS, Tamil Nadu. The squadron operates the indigenous HAL Tejas fighter from 1 July 2016. The squadron was initially based at Bangalore, Karnataka and later shifted to its main base in Sulur from 1 June 2018.
Air Marshal Amit Tiwari, PVSM, AVSM, VM is a retired officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Central Air Command. He assumed the office on 1 February 2021 succeeding Air Marshal Rajesh Kumar and served till 31 May 2021. He is succeeded by Air Marshal Richard John Duckworth. Previously, he served as AOC-in-C of Southern Air Command.
On 8 December 2021, a Mil Mi-17V-5 transport helicopter operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed between Coimbatore and Wellington in the state of Tamil Nadu, after departing from Sulur Air Force Station. The helicopter was carrying Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 13 others, including his wife and staff. Everyone on board was killed in the immediate aftermath, except Group Captain Varun Singh, who died from his injuries at a hospital a week later.
