The Indian Air Force has aircraft and equipment of Russian, British, French, Israeli, U.S. and Indian origins with Russian aircraft dominating its inventory. HAL produces some of the Russian and British aircraft in India under license.
Air Superiority Fighters of Indian Air force
- Sukhoi -30 MKI: IAF’s primary air superiority fighter with the additional capability to conduct air-ground (strike) missions is Sukhoi Su-30MKI. The IAF have placed an order for a total of 272 Su-30MKIs of which 170 are in service as of 2013. Twin seater twin engine multirole fighter of Russian origin which carries One X 30mm GSH gun alongwith 8000 kg external armament. It is capable of carrying a variety of medium-range guided air to air missiles with active or semi-active radar or Infra red homing close range missiles. It has a max speed of 2500 km/hr (Mach 2.35).
- MIG-29: The Mikoyan MiG-29 known as Baaz is a dedicated air superiority fighter and constitutes a second line of defence after the Sukhoi Su-30MKI. 66 MiG-29s are in service, all of which are currently being upgraded to the MiG-29UPG standard. Twin engine, single seater air superiority fighter aircraft of Russian origin capable of attaining max. speed of 2445 km per hour (Mach-2.3). It has a combat ceiling of 17 km. It carries a 30 mm cannon alongwith four R-60 close combat and two R-27 R medium range radar guided missiles.
Multi Role Combat Aircraft of Indian Air force
- Dassault Mirage 2000: The Dassault Mirage 2000, known as Vajra in Indian service, is the primary multirole fighter, the IAF currently operates 51 Mirage 2000Hs which are currently being upgraded to the Mirage 2000-5 MK2 standard. A single seater air defence and multi-role fighter of French origin powered by a single engine can attain max speed of 2495 km/hr(Mach 2.3). It carries two 30 mm integral cannons and two matra super 530D medium-range and two R-550 magic II close combat missiles on external stations
- HAL Tejas: The Tejas is the second supersonic fighter developed indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited after the HAL Marut. The Indian Air Force is reported to have a requirement for 200 single-seat and 20 two-seat conversion trainers, while the Indian Navy may order up to 40 single-seaters to replace its Sea Harrier FRS.51 and Harrier T.60.Tejas was cleared in January 2011 for use by Indian Air Force pilots. It is to reach the second of three levels of operational clearance on 20th December 2013.
Fighter Aircrafts of Indian Air Force
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 : The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 serves as an Interceptor aircraft in the IAF. The IAF have phased out most of its MiG-21s and plans to keep only 125 that have been upgraded to MiG-21 Bison standard. There are 3 version of MIG-21
- MiG 21 Bis
- MiG 21 Bison
- MiG 21 M/MF
These aircraft will be phased out between 2014 and 2017. The MiG-21s are planned to be replaced by the indigenously built HAL Tejas.
Ground Attack Aircraft of Indian Air Force
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27 Bahadur: The Mikoyan MiG-27 known as Bahadur serve as the IAF’s primary ground attack force. The IAF currently operates over 100 MiG-27s.
- SEPECAT Jaguar: The SEPECAT Jaguar known as Shamsher serve as the IAF’s primary ground attack force.The IAF currently operates 139 Jaguars. Single engine, single seater tactical strike fighter aircraft of Russian origin having a max. speed of 1700 km/hr (Mach 1.6). It carries one 23 mm six-barrel rotary integral cannon and can carry upto 4000 kg of other armament externally.
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