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 HAL Tejas is an Indian single engine, delta wing, light multirole fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. It was developed from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters but later became part of a general fleet modernisation programme. In 2003, the LCA was officially named "Tejas". It is the smallest and lightest in its class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft.
Sarang is the helicopter air display team of the Indian Air Force that flies four modified HAL Dhruv helicopters, also known as Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). The team was formed in October 2003 and their first performance was at the Asian Aerospace show, Singapore, in 2004. The name Sarang is symbolic; the peacock is the national bird of India. The unit was inducted as No. 151 Helicopter Unit in 2005 and was shifted from Yelahanka AFS, Bangalore to Sulur AFS, Coimbatore in 2009.
Sulur is a town located in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is a suburb of Coimbatore. It is the headquarters of Sulur Taluk of Coimbatore district. There are many market places and many big retail and wholesale shops are available and also taluk office, police station, and a famous RVS institutions consisting of medical college, arts college is there in Sulur. And also two big famous temples are there. It is also a taluk and legislative constituency which comes under the Coimbatore parliamentary constituency.
The Yelahanka Air Force Station is an Indian Air Force airfield in Yelahanka, Bengaluru. The main role of this airfield is to train pilots to fly transport planes. This station also conducts type-conversion of navigators on the Antonov An-32.
Thanjavur Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is located in Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, India. It is home to a No. 222 squadron of the IAF's Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft - the first IAF fighter squadron in Southern India. The facility was expected to start functioning by 2012. However, the schedule was delayed and the airbase was inaugurated on 27 May 2013 by then Defence Minister A. K. Antony. As of 2019 it operates a squadron of Sukhoi Su-30 MKI.
This is a timeline of the development of the HAL Tejas, a light-weight, multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
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.
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 55 square kilometres (21 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 Sulur Air Force Station. The squadron is equipped with indigenous HAL Tejas MK1 in FOC configuration.
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. The Air Headquarters Communication Squadron 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 Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, is a retired Indian Air Force officer, who served as the Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, having assumed office on 30 September 2019 after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa. He retired on 30 September 2021 and was succeeded by Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari.
The HAL Tejas Mark 2, or Medium Weight Fighter (MWF), is an Indian single-engine, canard delta wing, multirole combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). It is a further development of the HAL Tejas, with an elongated airframe, close coupled canards, new sensors, and a more powerful engine.
On 8 December 2021, a Mil Mi-17V-5 transport helicopter operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed between Coimbatore and Wellington in 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. Thirteen people on board were killed in the immediate aftermath, and Group Captain Varun Singh died from his injuries at a hospital a week later.
