Journey of the Dream to Fly

January 27, 2024January 27, 2024

Jai Hind,

We have just witnessed the republic day on the 26^th January 2024, a mark of our sovereignty. A ceremony I always look forward to see is the republic day parade, especially the Fly past by our Indian Air force (IAF).

To mark the occasion, I thought of taking a break from regular content of series ‘Dream to Fly’ for this edition and replace the content with our Indian Airforce and Aircrafts we fly.

All the content is available in public domain and does not compromise safety and security in any way, in fact the aim is to give a glimpse of our Air force (ranked 4th in the world).

IAF operates a huge variety of aircrafts for various uses Fighters, Bombers, Transporters, Recon’s, Fuellers, Drones, etc. along with Helicopters for Attack, Transport and rescue operations.

Below is a comprehensive list of various aircrafts flown by IAF

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Combat Aircraft
Dassault Rafale	France	multirole	EH/DH	36
HAL Tejas	India	multirole	Mk.1 / 1A	33	1 trainer provide conversion training 170 Mk.1A’s and 17 trainers on order.
Sukhoi Su-30MKI	Russia	multirole	MKI	260	12 on order
MiG-29	Russia	multirole	UPG	75	10 provide conversion training
Mirage 2000	France	multirole	H/I	50	8 TH/TI variants provide training
SEPECAT Jaguar	France United Kingdom	ground attack	IM/IS	160	30 IB’s provide training
MiG-21	Soviet Union	interceptor	UPG	40
AWACS
Embraer R-99	Brazil	AEW&C		3	equipped with a DRDO-developed AEW&C system
Beriev A-50	Soviet Union	AEW&C	A-50EI	3	Equipped with the EL/W-2090 radar.
Reconnaissance
Boeing 707	United States	surveillance		1
Global 5000	United States	ELINT		2
Gulfstream G100	Israel	surveillance	1125 Astra	2
Gulfstream III	United States	ELINT	SRA	3	also used for electronic-warfare
Tanker
Ilyushin Il-78	Soviet Union	aerial refueling	Il-78MKI	6
Transport
Boeing 737	United States	VIP transport	737-700	3
Boeing 777	United States	VIP transport	777-300ER	2	used for Air India One for presidential flight
Embraer Legacy 600	Brazil	VIP transport		4
Boeing C-17	United States	strategic airlifter		11
Ilyushin Il-76	Soviet Union	strategic airlifter	Il-76MD	17
Antonov An-32	Ukraine	transport		103	53 are the 32RE variant
Dornier Do 228	Germany	transport	228-201	58	license built by HAL
EADS CASA C-295	Spain	transport	C-295MW	1	55 on order – HS 748 replacement
C-130J Super Hercules	United States	tactical airlifter	C-130J-30	12
Hawker Siddeley HS 748	United Kingdom	transport		57
Helicopters
Mil Mi-17	Russia	utility	Mi-17V-5	222
Mil Mi-24	Russia	attack	Mi-24/25/35	15
HAL Dhruv	India	utility		111	16 are the Rudra derivative
Alouette III	France	liaison	Chetak	77	license-built by HAL
SA 315B Lama	India	utility	Cheetah	17	license-built by HAL
Boeing AH-64	United States	attack	AH-64E	22
CH-47 Chinook	United States	transport	CH-47F	15
HAL Light Utility Helicopter	India	utility			6 on order
HAL Prachand	India	attack		10	66 on order
Trainer Aircraft
BAE Hawk	United Kingdom	Jet trainer	Hawk 132	102
HAL Kiran	India	Jet trainer		77^]
HAL HTT-40	India	basic trainer			70 on order
Pilatus PC-7	Switzerland	trainer	Mk II	75
Pipistrel Virus	Slovenia	basic trainer		72
UAV
IAI Heron	Israel	surveillance	Heron 1	49
IAI Searcher	Israel	surveillance	Mk. I / II
Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Helicopters
HAL Dhruv	India	utility		145	43 on order
HAL Rudra	India	attack		75
Alouette III	France	liaison / utility	Chetak	4	license-built by HAL
SA 315B Lama	France	liaison / utility	Cheetah	40	license-built by HAL – 4 on order
HAL Prachand	India	attack		5	90 on order
Boeing AH-64	United States	attack	AH-64E(I)		6 on order
UAV
Drishti 10	Israel	Reconnaissance			2 on order
IAI Eitan	Israel	Reconnaissance	Heron TP	4	16 Heron on order
IAI Searcher	Israel	Reconnaissance	Mk-III	<100
Ideaforge Switch	India	Surveillance	1.0		undisclosed quantities on order^[38]
NewSpace NIMBUS	India	Surveillance	Mk-III	75
Raphe MPhibr MR-20	India	Cargo		48^]
NewSpace BELUGA ^[40]	India	Surveillance		25