List of historical aircraft of the Indian Air Force

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The Indian Air Force is one of the three constituents of the Indian Armed Forces.[1] It was established in 1932.[2]

The Air Force operates a combination of combat, reconnaissance, transport aircraft, and helicopters.[3] The early fleet consisted majorly of imported planes while HAL designed and built some aircraft locally. HAL was involved in license production of some of the foreign aircraft in India.[4]

Aircraft

[edit]
Westland Wapiti, the first aircraft flown by the Royal Indian Air Force
Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber in the early 1950s
English Electric Canberra medium bomber introduced in the 1950s
Dassault Ouragan fighter-bomber introduced in 1953
Dassault Mystere IV being armed in September 1965
Sukhoi Su-7 fighter-bomber from the 1970s
HAL HPT-32 Deepak trainer aircraft
MiG-23 fighter aircraft introduced in 1981
MiG-27 fighter used from the mid 1980s to 2010s
Name Origin Primary
role(s) 		Introduced Retired Count Notes
Before 1947
Westland Wapiti United Kingdom Liaison 1933 1942 28 [5]
Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta United Kingdom Transport 1941 1944 5
Avro Anson I United Kingdom Basic trainer 1942 1945 7 [6]
Boulton Paul Defiant TT.III United Kingdom Target tug 1944 1945 ?
Bristol Blenheim I United Kingdom Bomber 1941 1942 5
de Havilland D.H.86B United Kingdom Transport 1940 1942 2
de Havilland Dragon Rapide United Kingdom Transport 1941 1945 4
de Havilland Tiger Moth United Kingdom Basic trainer 1939 1957 192
Douglas Dakota United States Transport 1944 1987 206
Fairchild PT-19 United States Basic trainer 1943 1946 40 [7][8]
Harlow PC-5A United States Transport 1941 1942 4
Hawker Audax United Kingdom Liaison 1939 1945 7
Hawker Hart United Kingdom Bomber 1939 1942 7
Hawker Hind United Kingdom Bomber 1939 1941 6
Hawker Hurricane United Kingdom Fighter-bomber 1942 1945 ?
North American Harvard Mk.II and 4 Canada Basic trainer 1942 1973 ?
Supermarine Spitfire Vc & VIIIc United Kingdom Fighter/Reconnaissance 1943 1948 19 [9]
Vickers Valentia United Kingdom Transport 1942 1944 1
Vultee Vengeance United States Bomber 1942 1945 35 [10]
Westland Lysander II United Kingdom Liaison 1941 1943 25 [11]
Westland Lysander III.T United Kingdom Target tug 1941 1942 48 [11]
Airspeed Oxford United Kingdom Transport 1946 1949 5
Auster AOP.6 United Kingdom Liaison 1946 1970 20
Hawker Tempest II United Kingdom Fighter 1945 1955 235 [12]
Supermarine Spitfire FR.XIVE & FR.XVIII United Kingdom Fighter/Reconnaissance 1945 1957 120 [9]
1947-1970
Aero Ae-45 Czechoslovakia Transport 1955 1957 1
Antonov An-12 Soviet Union Transport 1961 1993 65
Auster AOP.9 United Kingdom Liaison 1955 1981 35
Bell 47G-2 United States Helicopter 1957 1979 15
Consolidated B-24J Liberator United States Bomber 1948 1967 45 [a][13]
Dassault MD. 450B Ouragan France Fighter-bomber 1953 1967 104 [b][14]
Dassault Mystère MD.454 IVA France Fighter-bomber 1957 1973 104
de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter Canada Transport 1956 1998 36
de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou Canada Transport 1963 1991 26 [15]
de Havilland Devon United Kingdom Transport 1947 1991 22
de Havilland Vampire F.3 United Kingdom Fighter 1948 1955 3
de Havilland Vampire FB.52 United Kingdom Fighter-bomber 1950 1974 286 [c]
de Havilland Vampire NF.10 United Kingdom Fighter 1953 1955 30
de Havilland Vampire NF.54 United Kingdom Fighter 1953 1966 30
de Havilland Vampire PR.55 United Kingdom Reconnaissance 1954 1965 5 [d]
de Havilland Vampire T.11 United Kingdom Basic trainer 1963 ? 7
de Havilland Vampire T.55 United Kingdom Basic trainer 1953 1982 124 [e]
English Electric Canberra B(I).58/B(I).66 United Kingdom Bomber/Reconnaissance 1957 2007 150 [16]
Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar United States Transport 1953 1984 89
Folland Fo.141 Gnat F.1 United Kingdom Fighter 1958 1978 ? [f]
HAL HF-24 Marut Mk.1 India Fighter-bomber 1961 1985 147 [17]
HAL HT-2 India Basic trainer 1953 1998 169
Hawker Hunter FGA.56A United Kingdom Fighter-bomber 1957 1996 167
Hawker Hunter T.66 United Kingdom Basic trainer 1959 1992 40
Ilyushin Il-14 Soviet Union Transport 1955 1981 29
Lockheed Super Constellation United States Transport 1961 1981 9
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F-13/FL/PFM/M/bis/Bison Soviet Union Fighter 1964 2025 850+ [18][19]
Mil Mi-4 Soviet Union Helicopter 1960 1988 121
North American T-6G Texan United States Basic trainer 1973 ?
Percival Prentice T.3 United Kingdom Basic trainer 1947 1963 62 [g]
Sikorsky S-55 United States Helicopter 1954 1966 8 [h]
Sikorsky S-62B United States Helicopter 1960 1979 2
Supermarine Spitfire PR.XI & XIX United Kingdom Reconnaissance 1947 1959 15 [9]
Supermarine Spitfire T.IX United Kingdom Basic trainer 1947 1955 10
Vickers Viscount United Kingdom Transport 1955 1971 2
HAL Krishak India Liaison 1965 1988 68
HAL Pushpak India Basic trainer 1965 1967 25
Hawker Hunter F. Mk.56 United Kingdom Fighter 1966 1992 55
Sukhoi Su-7BMK/BKL Soviet Union Fighter-bomber 1968 1986 140 [20]
Tupolev Tu-124 Soviet Union Transport 1966 1981 3
Since 1971
HAL Ajeet Mk.1 India Fighter 1977 1991 89 [i]
HAL HPT-32 Deepak India Primary trainer 1984 2009 144 [21]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23BN Soviet Union Fighter-bomber 1981 2009 95 [22]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MF Soviet Union Fighter 1982 2007 40
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25RBK/RU Soviet Union Reconnaissance 1981 2006 10 [j][23]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27ML Soviet Union Fighter 1985 2019 165 [24]
PZL TS-11 Iskra bis-D Poland Basic trainer 1975 2004 76 [k][25]
SEPECAT Jaguar IS GR.1 United Kingdom/France Ground attack 1979 1984 16 [l]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Ex-RAF World War Two lend-lease bombers refurbished by HAL
  2. ^ Target tug from 1965, retired in 1967
  3. ^ 247 built under licence by HAL
  4. ^ PR.55 were T.55s converted to photo reconnaissance
  5. ^ 60 T.55s built under licence by HAL
  6. ^ Licence built by HAL
  7. ^ Includes 42 built by HAL
  8. ^ Might have been used till 1968
  9. ^ Improved Folland Gnat, includes 10 upgraded Gnats
  10. ^ 6 MiG-25RBK and 2 MiG-25RU
  11. ^ 26 aircraft bought in the 1990s
  12. ^ Other variants still operational

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Indian Armed Forces". Government of India. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  2. ^ "HC Deb 3 April 1933 vol 276 cc1473-501". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 3 April 1933. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
  3. ^ The Military Balance 2024. International Institute of Strategic Studies. 2024. p. 267-270. ISBN 978-1-032-78004-7.
  4. ^ "HAL's Maharatna Status: India's Growth Towards Aerospace Industry". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 14 October 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
  5. ^ "The Westland Wapiti in Indian Air Force". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013.
  6. ^ "No. 1 Service Flying Training School (India)". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012.
  7. ^ Andrade 1979, p. 239.
  8. ^ "Indian Air Force Gallery :: Training in the IAF". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "IAF-Spitfire". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 6 December 2007.
  10. ^ "History of IAF". Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Westland Lysander in Indian Air Force Service". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 15 January 2008.
  12. ^ "IAF-Tempest". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Consolidated B-24 Liberator". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012.
  14. ^ Jackson 1988, p. 76-78.
  15. ^ "De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  16. ^ "Canberra Farewell - Revell 1/72 B(I) 58". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  17. ^ Donald 1997, p. 523.
  18. ^ "MiG-21 FL flies into history today after serving the IAF for 50 years". IBN. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  19. ^ Pubby, Manu (22 July 2025). "From warhorse to legend: MiG-21 to bow out after 62 years in Indian skies". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  20. ^ "A Whale Of A Fighter: The Su-7 In IAF Service". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 30 December 2009.
  21. ^ "HAL HPT-32 Deepak". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  22. ^ "Last Flight of the MiG-23 BN". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011.
  23. ^ Pradhan & Chavan 2007, p. xiv.
  24. ^ "MiG-27 goes into history: Legacy of Indian Air Force's bahadur valiant". India Today. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  25. ^ "Swansong of the Iskaras". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 18 November 2007.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Andrade, John M. (1979). U.S. military Aircraft Designations and serials since 1909. Leicester: Midland Counties Publ. ISBN 0 904597 22 9. OCLC 712373993.
  • Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London: Aerospace. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
  • Green, William, The Indian Air Force and its Aircraft Ducimus Books, London, 1982, ASIN B004YXNILM
  • Jackson, Paul (September–December 1988). "Ouragon: Ancestor of Rafale". Air Enthusiast. No. 37. Bromley, Kent, UK: Pilot Press. pp. 15–24, 75–78. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Pradhan, R. D.; Chavan, Yashwantrao Balwantrao (2007). 1965 War, the Inside Story: Defence Minister Y.B. Chavan's Diary of India-Pakistan War. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 978-81-269-0762-5.
  • Sapru, Somanth, Combat Lore: Indian Air Force 1930-1945 K W Publishers, 2014, 978-9383649259
  • Singh, Pushpindar, Aircraft of the Indian Air Force 1933-1973 English Book Store, New Delhi, 1974, ASIN B00K0Q8MX6