Sankalan Chattopadhyay on the IAF at 88

IAF Sukhoi Su-30MKI (Photo: Angad Singh)

Past, Present and Future

The Indian Air Force was established on 8 October in 1932 in British India as an auxiliary part of the Royal Air Force. But a handful Indians already marked their places in history with services with the Royal Flying Corps. Hardit Malik was the first Indian pilot enrolled into RFC and he even made six victories against Germany during World War 1 though is credited only by two kills. His path was followed by S.C. Welinkar, Errol Sen, Indra Lal Roy and many more. Indra Lal Roy is designated as First and only Indian Ace Fighter Aircraft Pilot. While serving to the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force, he claimed ten aerial victories in just over 170 hours flying time. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Upon establishment the Indian Air Force adopted the Royal Air Force uniforms, badges, brevets and insignia. On 1 April 1933, the IAF commissioned No.1 Squadron with only four Westland Wapiti biplanes and five Indian pilots. The Indian pilots were led by RAF Commanding officer Flight Lieutenant Cecil Bouchier. Later he became the Air Vice Marshal. The first five Indian pilots commissioned into the air force were Harish Chandra Sircar, Subroto Mukerjee, Bhupendra Singh, Aizad Baksh Awan and Amarjeet Singh. The sixth officer, J N Tandon was too short to be a pilot and was revert to logistics. The first five Indian pilots were commissioned in 1932 from RAF Cranwell. Four and a half years later, the air force saw their first combat when "A" Flight was sent to Miranshah, in North Waziristan, to support Royal Indian Army operations against Bhittani tribesmen. Soon the air force saw expansion as a "B" Flight had also been formed in April 1936. But, it was only in June 1938 when set up of "C" Flight brought No. 1 Squadron to their full strength. By that time personnel strength was increased to 16 officers and 662 men.

MiG-21s were the backbone of the IAF for decades (photo: Simon Watson)

During the World War 2, the air force saw extensive action against axis power, mainly against Imperial Japan. IAF conducted strikes against Japanese air bases in Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand. IAF used to act as escort of heavy bombers in services with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Force (USAAF). It saw limited action in Western Europe as well. At this time IAF went through a phase of steady expansion. New aircraft started finding their way into the IAF from US or UK. Vultee Vengeance, Republic p-47 Thunderbolt, Douglas DC-3, Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, de Havilland Mosquito and Westland Lysander were added to its fleet.

LCA Tejas (photo: Deb Rana)

During WW 2 many Indian pilots showcased extensive bravery during air operations. Flying Officer Dodla Ranga Reddy became the first Indian pilot (8 February 1944) to achieve a victory against enemy aircraft when he shot down an Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0. Flying Officer Jagdish Chandra Varma shot down a Nakajima Ki-43 for which he was awarded DFC. Wing commander Karun Krishna Majumdar was the first Indian to reach the rank of Wing Commander. He was awarded Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery. In 2014, at St Andrew’s Garden, Gravesend, Kent, UK, a bronze statue was unveiled in honour of Squadron Leader Mohinder Singh Pujji. In recognition of the services rendered by the IAF, King George VI of UK conferred the prefix "Royal" in 1945. Thereafter the IAF was referred to as Royal Indian Air Force. IAF personnel were awarded 22 Distinguished Flying Crosses and a host of other decorations. After independence the RAF found themselves in combat missions when Pakistan invaded the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Air Marshal Sir Thomas W Elmhirst, the Commander in Chief of the Royal Indian Air Force that time was asked to liberate the state from the intruders. The total aircraft strength of the RIAF at that time formed with six Squadrons of Tempest fighter bomber aircraft with eight aircraft per squadron, one Squadron of Dakota light transport aircraft with seven aircraft, twenty Spitfire fighter aircraft and one Flight of Harvard fighter with four aircraft. Soon the RIAF would enter the jet era when on 4 November 1948 three Vampire F.Mk.3 jet fighters arrived in India. The achievement of operational status on the Vampire FB Mk.52 by No. 7 Squadron in the following year was to give the RIAF the distinction of becoming the first Asian air arm to operate jets. The transformation of RIAF to jet era was under over view of Subroto Mukherjee, who on 1 April 1954 would become Air Marshal and the first Indian Chief of Air Staff. 

IAF Mirage 2000 (photo: PSC)

After the Republic status the air force dropped the "Royal" prefix and became the Indian Air Force. And in the 50’s it saw massive transformation. According to information available from Bharat Rakshak till 1965 the IAF procured 1454 combat aircraft (excluding HF-24 and Mig-21). IAF underwent massive transformation and expansion inducting large numbers of HAL-built Vampire FB Mk.52s, then French-origin Ouragans and Mysteres IVAs, followed by British-origin Hunter F.56s, Canberra bombers and strategic reconnaissance aircraft and soon after, the Gnat light fighter which was built in quantity by HAL. The only heavy bomber type the IAF operated were the refurbished (by HAL) B-24J Liberators which served the IAF till 1967. The English Electric Canberra interdictor bomber served with the IAF for a half century, from 1957 to 2007 and took major part both in the 1965 and 1971 wars. 

The war of 1965 changed everything! Soon after this, the Soviet-origin MiG-21 became mainstay of the fighter force, while another Soviet-origin aircraft, the Sukhoi Su-7 was inducted for the ground attack role. By that time India already achieved another feather of glory in their throne by developing the first supersonic fighter aircraft in Asia- the HF-24 Marut.  Marut marked the only combat kill to its name when on 7 December 1971, Squadron Leader KK Bakshi of No. 220 Squadron shot down a PAF F-86 Sabre. However, to dismay of many, this elegant fighter remained under powered and consequently had a short service life. During these two wars, the IAF pilots showcased excellent skill and indomitable courage in their missions leading to the victory for the nation. Squadron Leader A. B. Devayya in his Mystere IVA during the raid on Sargodha on 7 Sep, 1965 shot down a PAF F-104. He was awarded Maha Vir Chakra posthumously. Flight Lieutenant Alfred Tyrone Cooke in same day during defence of IAF base of Kalaikunda faced four PAF Sabres. He shot down one, made one crash and damaged another. He was awarded the Vir Chakra. During the 1971 war, on 14 December, Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon during defence of Sri Nagar Air Base alone faced six Sabre. He was able to shoot down one and damage another. He was posthumously awarded Param Vir Chakra. Undoubtedly, the most rapid transformation of the IAF took place during the 1980s. The procurement of F-16s by Pakistan had accelerated this change and consequently the IAF began to procure fighters from the USSR, France and UK almost simultaneously. According to data available, during this period, the IAF procured some 140 Jaguars (mostly built by HAL) plus 50 Mirage-2000s, 70 MiG-29s, 10 MiG-25s, 160 MiG-23s and 165 MiG-27s, the latter being built in India under license. From the late 1990s the IAF began to receive large numbers of the Sukhoi Su-30MKI, again mostly built in India by HAL while the last version of the MiG-21 was upgraded to become the MiG-21bison. Over the last three decades, the IAF has looked for a suitable replacement for the MiG-21 even as the entire fleet of MiG-23s, MiG-25s and MiG-27s were phased out. With continuous delays faced in the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) development programme, the IAF instituted a requirement for some 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) but after over a decade of evaluation and final selection, continued contractual delays resulted in just 36 Rafales being ordered, with none to be produced in country. The Rafales have just entered service but the requirement for larger numbers remains unfulfilled. Earlier, dissatisfaction with the Russian 5th generation fighter (PAK FA, now the Su-57) programme made India withdraw. However, the procurement and subsequent manufacture of a total of 272 Sukhoi Su-30MKIs has helped to stem the depleting force levels.

The recently inducted IAF Rafale (photo: MoD/IAF)

The Mig-21 has undoubtedly been the longest serving fighter aircraft in the IAF. Mig-21 F-13 entered into services in 1963. Later they were augmented with PF version. FL was the first version which HAL started to manufacture under license. However it is M, MF and ultimately 'bis' which soon would take over the manufacturing line. Later 175 Mig-21bis were extensively upgraded to Mig-21 Bison level.  The IAF saw her last combat mission in February of 2019 when IAF Mirage-2000 destroyed terrorist camps at Balakot inside Pakistan and IAF Mig-21 pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman shot down a PAF F-16 in a dog fight. Thus he became the only Mig-21 pilot in history to shoot down an enemy F-16 in a combat. He was awarded Vir Chakra. Currently the IAF fleet consists of a number of Mig-21 Bison which are scheduled to be retired by 2025. Mirage-2000s are upgraded to equivalent of Mirage-2000 V5 Mk.II. While Mig-29s will see upgrade to Mig-29UPG, Jaguars are being upgraded to DARIN III level. All of these will be replaced by the LCA Tejas. The Light Combat Aircraft programme was the first indigenous attempt to develop a fourth generation platform to meet future requirements of the IAF. The programme was initiated by ADA in collaboration with ARDC under umbrella of HAL. The LCA conducted its maiden flight when TD 1 KH2001 piloted by Wg. Cdr. Rajiv Kothiyal touched the sky over Bangalore on 4 January 2001. The former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee named the LCA as Tejas. LSP-4 became the first platform to achieve Initial Operating Clearance (IOC) when it made the maiden flight in June 2010.

Currently there are two squadrons of Tejas are in service with the IAF No. 45 Squadron (Flying Daggers), AFS Sulur (at first it was situated in the Bengaluru), became active with LCA on 1 July 2016. The IAF No. 18 Squadron (Flying Bullets) welcomed the Tejas on 27 May 2020. The strength of Indian Air Force by 2035 is expected to be consists of 272 upgraded Su-30MKI, 36 Dassault Rafale F3R, 114 multi role fighter aircraft, 40 LCA Tejas, 83 Tejas Mk.1A, 96 LCA Mk. 2 and 36 AMCA Mk.1. Expecting all the platforms entering production will be as expected and there is no issue with production rate, the total strength of the IAF will stand at 677 of which two squadrons (36) are expected to be fifth generation one. But this is not enough as IAF is in a race against time. By 2035 Pakistan will retire the Mirage-III, Mirage-5 and F-7 currently in services with them with JF-17 series. There will be at least 176 JF-17 including Block III in their services by 2035. Besides they are planning to induct fifth generation fighter jets as well. While China already has inducted J-20 and is working on another fifth generation platform FC-31. Besides stealth bomber H-20 too can enter services by 2025. So with both fifth and fourth generation aircraft China is going to pose a grave threat, in terms of both numerical strength and technology. Since the 80’s and before induction of JF-17, the PAF inducted around 540 fighter jets including 85 F-16s. Due to sanctions by US on Pakistan, the modernisation of F-16 has been delayed greatly as well as the serviceability also decreasing. Economic crisis has further deteriorated the situation for them. Still, with induction of a fifth generation platform they will process a significant capability to threaten the IAF enormously. The rapid growth of PLAAF will place China in far superior place in numerical terms even if the IAF can have an upper hand in technology. China already has replaced the US as largest navy in the world. High chances they will replace both Russia and US in air force strength too. Yes, in comparison of the USAF, it still will take several decades for China to challenge the technological superiority of the US. But that is more than enough to have an iron hand against India.  It is therefore high time, that the Government of India went ahead to meet the IAF’s sanctioned strength of 42 combat squadrons and even if 5th generation fighters are still sometime away, it is more than feasible to have a fleet of advanced fourth generation multirole fighters to face possible future challenges. Many still believe that the IAF should go in for more LCA Mk.IAs and LCA Mk.IIs to meet its requirements without economic strain but there will still remain the matter of numbers. As for the next generation, there are reports that along with the planned development by ADA of a naval twin-engined deck-based fighter (TEDBF), a twin engined land variant could be developed for the air force, being termed as the omni role combat aircraft (ORCA). However, whatever decision the Government takes, induction of new fighters for the IAF is imperative! The fourth largest air force in the world must not only maintain air dominance but need to prepare for multi domain multi theatre combat. The People of India deserve a technologically advanced air force by 2035, so as to continue to ‘Touch the Sky with Glory’.

IAF Jaguars (Photo: Phil Camp)

IAF MiG-29UPG (Photo: Simon Watson)

Sankalan Chattopadhyay can be contacted at twitter@VinodDX9