Historical
Perspective
The Indian Air Force was
officially established on 8 October 1932, being the date of its formal
constitution. The first aircraft flight, however, was not formed until 1 Apro;
1933, at which time it possessed a strength of six officers trained at RAF
Cranwell and 19 havai sephais
(literally, air soldiers); its aircraft inventory comprised four Westland
Wapiti IIA army co-operation biplanes based at Drigh Road as the “A” Flight
nucleus of the planned No.I (Army Co-operation) Squadron.
The year 1946 also saw the
establishment of the first RIAF transport unit, No.12 Squadron which had first
been raised on Spitfires at Kohat in December 19445 and received C-47 Dakotas
in Panagarh in late 1946.
Thus, the principal components of
the RIAF at partition were Nos. 3, 4, 7, 8 and 10 squadrons with Tempest IIs,
No.2 Squadron with spitfires and No. 12 Squadron with C-47s, plus No. 1 Air
observation flight, the establishment of which with AOP Auster 4s, 5s and 6s,
coincided with independence. No.6 Squadron, which had been in process of
converting from Spitfires to C-47s at Drigh Road, had been stood down and its
transports transferred to Pakistan.
On 27 October 1947, No. 12 Sqn
was to initiate the remarkable feat of air-lifting the 1st Sikhs from Palam onto the rough and dusty
Srinagar airstrip without planning or reconnaissance as the initial Indian
response to the sizeable insurgent forces that were pouring across the border
into Jammu and Kashmir. On 30 October, the first Spitfires from the Advanced
Flying School at Ambala reached Srinagar and were soon engaged in strafing the
raiders beyond Pattan. Within a week, the Tempests of No.7 Squadron were
playing a decisive role in the battle of Shelatang which halted the forward momentum
of the tribal invaders.
In January 1950, India become a
Republic within the British Commonwealth and the Indian Air Force dropped its
“Royal” prefix. At this time, it possessed six fighter squadrons of Spitfires,
Vampires and a Tempests, operating from Kanpur, Poona, Ambala and Palam, one
B-24 bomber squadron, one C-47 Dakota transport squadron, one AOP flight, a
communications squadron at Palam and a growing training Organisation.
Particularly significant in IAF
annals was the year 1957, which witnessed true beginnings of the major
re-equipment programme that was to raise the Service fully to world standards.
Deliveries began of 110 Dassault Mystere IVAs,
carrying the service into the realms of transonic flight for the first
time, and both Hawker Hunters and Englligh Eletric Canberas began to enter the
IAF inventory. A new No.1 Squadron was raised on the Mystere, the existing
Vampire-equipped No.1 Squadron being redesignated as No. 27 Squadron; No. 5
Squadron re-equipped with the Canberra B (I) Mk. 58, and, at the year’s end,
no. 7 Squadron began conversion to the Hunter FMk.56. It was perhaps
appropriate that the year which saw commencement of an immense infusion of
modern hardware should also witness the end of the IAF’s piston-engined fighter
epoch: No.14 Squadron, the last firstline piston-engine fighter unit, flew in
its Spitfire Mk. XVIIIs to Halwara in preparation for re-equipment with the
Vampire.
Growth was not restricted to the
combat elements for, in parallel, the IAF’s transport force was enlarged to six
squadrons, three with C-47s (Nos.11, 43 and 49), two with C-119Gs (Nos. 12 and
19) and one with DHC-3 Otters (No.41)
The first An-12B arrived in India
on 1 March 1961, No. 44 Squadron being formed on this type, the II-14s that
followed equipping another newly-raised squadron, No. 42. A follow-on order for
a further eight An-12Bs was placed early in 1962, the IAF finally beginning to
build up a really credible heavy airlift capability which was to be immensely
enhanced with the arrival of a further 25 An-12Bs under a loan agreement signed
in July 1963, a second squadron, No.25, meanwhile being formed on this type.
The real test of IAF airlift
capability came in October 1962, when open warfare erupted on the Sino-Indian
border. During the period 20 October to 20 November, pressure on the Service’s
transport and helicopter units was intense, troops and supplies heaving to be
flown to the support of the border posts virtually around the clock and at
extreme altitudes. The helicopters had to constantly run the gauntlet of
Chinese small arms and anti-aircraft fire, while operating to the tricky
helipads in the mountains. Many notable feats were performed by the IAF during
this conflict, including the operation of C-119Gs from airstrips 17,000 ft (5180m) above sea
level in the Karakoram Himalayas, and the air-lifting by An-12Bs of two troops
of AMX-13 light tanks to Chushul, in Ladakh, where the small airstrip was
15,000 ft (4570m) above sea level.
The purchase of 12 MiG-21
fighters from the Soviet Union-the IAF’s first combat aircraft of non-western
origin-and for Soviet technical assistance in setting up production facilities
for the fighter in India was followed by the procurement of SA-2 (Dvina) surface-to-air missiles.
Tension between India and
Pakistan had steadily escalated over the years, culminating on 1 September 1965
in a massive attack in the Chhamb sector by Pakistani forces. Possessing the
initiative in having chosen the time and place to strike and enjoying
overwhelming numerical superiority in the sector in both armour and troops,
Pakistan posed a grave threat to Indian forces on the ground and so, in
response to urgent requests for air strikes against Pakistani armour advancing
in the Chhamb-Jaurian sector, Vampire FBMk.52s of No.45 Squadrom, at the time
undergoing operational training at a forward base, mounted their first sorties
at 1745 hours on the first day of the conflict, and on their heels came the
Mysteres of Nos. 3 and 31 Squadrons operating from Pathankot. The Pakistani armoured
thrust was staggered. IAF Gnats proved their mettle in shooting down PAF Sabres
in this sector, the first of aerial victories being notched by Nos. 23 and 9
squadrons. Rapidly escalating, full-scale warfare broke out on 6 September all
along the international border between West Pakistan and India.
When the September 1965
hostilities began, the MiG-21 had still to achieve operational status. No.28
Squadron had been formed on the MiG-21 clear-weather day intercept model but
was still v ery much a trials unit then flying localized CAPs. Early
acquisition of MiG-21s of later and more potent version was considered
essential to accelerate re-equipment of squadrons still flying such patently
obsolete types as the Vampire FBMk.52. Thus sufficient numbers of the improved
MiG-21 FL (Type 77 in IAF parlance) were imported in flyaway condition to
initiate the programme, and these, together with others imported in CKD form
for HAL assembly, were to be sufficient for the re-equipment of nine squadrons
during the period 1966-69.
Within three years of the
Indo-Pakistan conflict, the IAF, which had achieved equal status with the Army
on 15 January 1966, possessed in excess of 70,000 personnel and was nearing its
45-squadron goal. Its composition in the autumn of 1968 included 23 fighter
category squadrons, three tactical bomber squadrons, a maritime patrol squadron
(with ex-Air India L. 104G Super Constellations), 11 transport squadrons, four
AOP squadrons, a number of helicopter units and a few SAM squadrons.
As the sixties moved to the
seventies, the IAF consolidated its expansion plans, attaining its 45 squadron
goal. Obsolescent equipment was steadily withdrawn to be succeeded by
increasing numbers of HF-24s, MiG-21 FLs and SU-&BMs.
By the mid ‘70s, the IAF was clearly
in need of urgent re-equipment devisions and various requirements, better known
by their acronyms DPSA, TASA, METAC and HETAC, were pursued and decisions were
forthcoming at last. Form the trough of the seventies, the IAF was to benefit
from a crest in the eighties, the period
1978-88witnessing a major modernization programme which replaced most of the
earlier generation and obsolescing equipment with spanking new aircraft types
and weapon systems. No less than twenty new aircraft types and sub-types
entered the IAF’s service over these years, including various strike fighters,
third-generation supersonic interceptors, tri-sonic reconnaissance aircraft,
strategic heavy lift transports, medium tactical transports, light transport
aircraft, heavy lift and medium-assault helicopters, basic trainers,
surface-to-air missiles and an array of sophisticated weaponry propelling the
IAF, or Bharatiya Vayu Sena, into one of the world’s better equipped air arms.
By the mid-80s, the Jaguar was in
service with Nos. 5.14, 16 and 27 Squadrons while a flight of No.6 Squadron was
equipped with the Maritime Jaguar carrying the new generation Sea Eagle
anti-ship sea-skimming missile.
Meanwhile, in 1976, the “third
generation” MiG-21 bis, considered the definitive variant of the classic
tailed-delta fighter design, was to follow-on the “M” sub-type, as a multi-role
air superiority/ground attack version. The MiG-21bis assumed the prime air
defence mantle and sufficient numbers were acquired in 1976-77 to equip three
squadrons (Nos.15, 21 and 23) formerly operating the Gnat light fighter.
With some 580 MiG-21s delivered
by HAL and nearly 250 MiG-21s (including the two-seat operational trainers)
imported as “fly aways”, the type remained an immense asset for the Indian Air
Force for over a quarter century. The quantity vs. quality dilemma inevitably
faced by most of the world’s air forces as a consequence of spiraling costs was
mitigated for the IAF by the large scale availability of the MiG-21, which type
will surely go down as one of aviation history’s all-time classics.
In 1982, a contract was finalized
with France for the Mirage 2000 delta-wing, fly-by-wire fighter, with high
agility and a formidable radar/missile combination.
in early 1987, even as the first
of some 50 MiG -29s had arrived by ship and were being assembled and tested by
Soviet personnel at Nasik. The first IAF formations to be selected for
conversion to the MiG-29 were Nos.47 and 28 Squadrons and, once more, induction
of this advanced fighter was extremely rapid.
A small number of the enigmatic
MiG-25Rs were received in September 1982, to form No. 102 Squadron, which
literally propelled the IAF into the trisonic era.
After nearly ten years of
evaluation and deliberation to replace the elderly Dakotas, Caribous, Packets
and II-14s, the Government of India eventually selected the Antonov An-32 to
meet the Medium Transport Aircraft (Metac) requirement, which was a powerfully
engine and rugged STOL aircraft with rear loading facility. The first of over
one hundred An-32s were received by the IAF in July 1984 and over the next four
years, re-equipped Nos. 12, 19, 33, 43, 48 and 49 Squadrons plus the Paratroop
Training School.
The far larger, jet engine,
Ilyushin Il-76 was contracted for to supplant the An-12,the first of these
being received in March 1985 to re-equip No.44 Squadron which was followed, in
March 1989, by No. 25 Squadron. The massive Il-76 has endowed the Indian Air
Force with true strategic airlift capability, which was dramatically
demonstrated in a number of actions around south Asia in the late’80s.
Still the largest type in the
IAF’s inventory remains the MiG-21 which has had a long (40 years) and
chequered career in the Indian Air Force since the first squadron was equipped
with this bisonic fighter in 1963. As earlier mentioned, the metamorphosis of
the MiG-21 from the limited endurance, lightly armed day-interceptor-21F
version to the basic-21 FL version
(built under licence by HAL), through the –Mseries (also built by HAL) to the
definitive-21 bis variant (220 built by HAL) has made this the most important
combat aircraft type to serve with the IAF. At its peak, some 20 squadrons were
equipped with MiG-21 variants, the total number received by the IAF (both
direct supplies from the Soviet Union and built under licence at Nasik for
airframes, Koraput for engines and Hyderabad for avionics)being nearly a
thousand during the period 1963 to 1985.
The IAD has been engaged in
identification of a replacement for the MiG-21s, not an easy task considering
the quantity involved and costs thereof. The expanded aeronautics industrial
base, increasingly capable R & D
organizations and massive home market were the factors that gave birth
to the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme. From the mid-1980s, the
indigenous LCA was assumed to be the type which would eventually supplant the
massive force of MiG-21s in IAF service.
The original concept of the LCA had been a more modest one. An ‘improved’
version of theGnat (or ajeet) would
have met the initial requirement for a cost-effective front-line fighter,
essentially for close air support with adequate self defence capability.
The
Indian Air Force Today
The five Operational commands
though administrative Wings, control
some 45 fixed-wings squadrons, 20 helicopter units and numerous surface-to-air
missile squadrons, with unit establishments varying from 12 to 18 aircraft.
This represents a total aircraft strength of nearly 1,700 including training
and support types, manned by some 170,000 personnel.
