*: June 2009

The Indian Air Force (IAF; Devanāgarī: भारतीय वायु सेना, Bhartiya Vāyu File:Ensign of the Indian Air Force.svg Senā) is the air arm of the armed forces of India. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict.

The Indian Air Force has a strength of over 1,915 (combat & non-combat) aircrafts.[69] Most of the IAF's aircraft are of Soviet/Russian origin. The Air Force also operates some aircraft from Britain and France. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited under licence produce some of the Russian and British aircraft in India. The exact number of aircraft in service with the Indian Air Force cannot be determined with precision from open sources. Apparently reliable sources provide notably divergent estimates for a variety of high-visibility aircraft

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_of_the_Indian_Air_Force

Mig-21

The Indian Air Force has been one of the largest users of the MiG-21 since its initial employment of the plane in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 and later Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. That war witnessed the first supersonic air combat in the subcontinent when an Indian MiG-21FLs shot down a PAF F-104 Starfighter with its GSh-23 twin barrelled 23mm cannon.^[8], thereafter it shot down 3 more F-104 starfighers & one MIG-19 before the war ended. It was also used as late as 1999 in the Kargil War

http://www.acig.org/artman/uploads/

Mig-27

Mig-29

MiG-29s are dedicated air superiority fighters of the IAF.^[72] The MiG-29 (NATO: Fulcrum) has a top speed of 2,445 km/h (Mach 2.3) and is armed with a 30 mm cannon along with R-60 & R-27 R missiles. The IAF began deploying MiG-29 in 1984 and was the second airforce to do so^[76]. Since their induction, the IAF's MiG-29s have undergone a series of upgrades including more efficient and powerful radar (Zhuk-ME), weapons system and upgraded engine

India was the first international customer of the MiG-29.^[14] The Indian Air Force (IAF) placed an order for more than 50 MiG-29s in 1980 while the aircraft was still in its initial development phase. Since its induction into the IAF in 1985, the aircraft has undergone a series of modifications with the addition of new avionics, sub-systems, turbofan engines and radars.^[15] The upgraded Indian version is known as Baaz (Hindi for Hawk) and forms a crucial component of the second-line offensive aircraft-fleet of the IAF after the Sukhoi Su-30MKI.

Indian MiG-29s saw action during the Kargil War in Kashmir in 1999. The IAF used the MiG-29s extensively for providing fighter escort forMirage 2000s which were used for firing laser-guided bombs on enemy targets. According to Indian sources during the Kargil War, MiG-29s from IAF’s 47 (Black Archers) Squadron successfully locked onto two Pakistani Air Force (PAF) F-16s which were close to the Indian airspace. Since India and Pakistan were not officially at war during the time, the MiGs were ordered by the IAF command to give up the chase. After this incident, the PAF ordered its aircraft to stay well within the Pakistani airspace.

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~rajwar/pictures/planes/iaf_planes.html

Mirage 2000

Mirage 2000s, capable of flying at 2,500 km/h (Mach 2.35), are the IAF's premier multirole fighter jet. These aircraft can carry a wide range of weaponry including two 30 mm integral cannons, two Matra Super 530Dmedium-range missiles, two R550 Magic close combat missiles and various ground attack munitions.

India has assigned the nuclear strike role to their Mirage 2000s. In 1999 when the Kargil conflict broke out, the Mirage 2000 performed well during the whole conflict in the Himalayan peaks, even though the Mirages supplied to India had limited air interdiction capability and had to be heavily modified to drop dumb and laser-guided bombs. The two Mirage squadrons flew a total of 515 sorties, and in 240 strike missions dropped 55,000 kg of ordnance. Easy maintenance and a very high sortie rate made the Mirage 2000 one of the most efficient fighter of the Indian Air Force in the conflict.

Indian Mirage-2000s have been integrated to carry the Russian R-73AE Archer missile and the indigenous Indian built Astra missile.

Su-30

The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is the IAF's prime air superiority fighter. The Su-30K variant was first acquired in 1996. In 1996, the IAF signed a US$1.6 billion contract with Russia for the supply of 50 Su-30MKIs and the technology transfer and license to manufacture 140 Su-30MKIs by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.^[71] The twin seater, multi-role fighter has a maximum speed of 2500 km/h (Mach 2.35) and has a service ceiling of 20,000 meters. The aircraft, with one mid-air refueling, can travel as far as 8000 km, making it an effective platform to deliver strategic weapons.^[72] In 2007, US$700 million were spent to upgrade IAF's remaining 10 Su-30Ks & 8 SU -30MKs to MKI Std variant^[73] and signed a contract for the supply of 40 additional MKIs with Russia.