List of historical aircraft of the Indian Air Force

Aircraft

Westland Wapiti, one of the first aircraft flown by the Royal Indian Air Force
Consolidated-Vultee B-24 Liberator heavy bomber over the Deccan plateau in the early 1950s
Canberra medium bomber
Mystere IVA being armed with cannon rounds during September 1965
Name Origin Primary
role(s)
Year
introduced
Year
retired
#
used
Notes
Pre World War II
Westland Wapiti United Kingdom Liaison 1933 1942 28 [1]
World War II
Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta United Kingdom Transport 1941 1944 5
Avro Anson I United Kingdom Basic trainer 1942 1945 7 [2]
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 [3][4]
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 [5]
Vickers Valentia United Kingdom Transport 1942 1944 1
Vultee Vengeance United States Bomber 1942 1945 35 [6]
Westland Lysander II United Kingdom Liaison 1941 1943 25 [7]
Westland Lysander III.T United Kingdom Target tug 1941 1942 48 [7]
Post World War II
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 [8]
Supermarine Spitfire FR.XIVE & FR.XVIII United Kingdom Fighter/Reconnaissance 1945 1957 120 [5]
Post independence acquisitions
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 [note 1][9]
Dassault Ouragan France Fighter 1953 1967 104 [note 2][10][11]
Dassault Mystère IV France Fighter 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 [12]
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 [note 3]
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 [note 4]
de Havilland Vampire T.11 United Kingdom Basic trainer 1963 ? 7
de Havilland Vampire T.55 United Kingdom Basic trainer 1953 1982 124 [note 5]
English Electric Canberra United Kingdom Bomber/Reconnaissance 1957 2007 150 [13]
Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar United States Transport 1953 1984 89
Folland Gnat United Kingdom Fighter 1958 1978 ? [note 6]
HAL HF-24 Marut India Fighter-bomber 1961 1985 147 [14]
HAL HT-2 India Basic trainer 1953 1998 169
Hawker Hunter FGA.56 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-21FL Soviet Union Fighter 1964 2013 332 [note 7][15]
North American T-6G Texan United States Basic trainer 1973 ?
Percival Prentice T.3 United Kingdom Basic trainer 1947 1963 62 [note 8]
Supermarine Spitfire PR.XI & XIX United Kingdom Reconnaissance 1947 1959 15 [5]
Supermarine Spitfire T.IX United Kingdom Basic trainer 1947 1955 10
Vickers Viscount United Kingdom Transport 1955 1971 2
Sikorsky S-55 United States Helicopter 1954 1966 8 [note 9]
Sikorsky S-62B United States Helicopter 1960 1979 2
Mil Mi-4 Soviet Union Helicopter 1960 1988 121
Acquisitions after 1965 war
Sukhoi Su-7 Fitter Soviet Union Fighter-bomber 1968 1986 140 [16]
Tupolev Tu-124 Soviet Union Transport 1966 1981 3
HAL Krishak India Liaison 1965 1988 68
Hawker Hunter F.56 United Kingdom Fighter 1966 1992 55
HAL Pushpak India Basic trainer 1965 1967 25
Acquisitions after 1971 war
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23BN Soviet Union Fighter-bomber 1981 2009 95 [17]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MF Soviet Union Fighter 1982 2007 40
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25RBK & RU Soviet Union Reconnaissance 1981 2006 10 [note 10][18]
Mikoyan MiG-27 Soviet Union Fighter 1985 2019 165 [19]
PZL TS-11 Iskra bis D Poland Basic trainer 1975 2004 76 [note 11][20]
SEPECAT Jaguar GR.I United Kingdom/France Ground attack 1979 1984 16 [note 12]
HAL Ajeet India Fighter 1977 1991 89 [note 13]

See also

References

Notes

  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 Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL)
  7. ^ other variants remain operational.
  8. ^ includes 42 built by HAL.
  9. ^ Some sources indicate that the S-55 was in use until 1968
  10. ^ 6 MiG-25RBK and 2 MiG-25RU
  11. ^ 26 aircraft bought in the 1990s.
  12. ^ Other variants still operational
  13. ^ improved Folland Gnat, includes 10 upgraded Gnats.

Citations

  1. ^ The Westland Wapiti in Indian Air Force Archived 2013-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "No. 1 Service Flying Training School (India)". Archived from the original on 3 August 2012.
  3. ^ Andrade 1979, p. 239
  4. ^ "Indian Air Force Gallery :: Training in the IAF".
  5. ^ a b c IAF-Spitfire Archived 2007-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "History of IAF". Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  7. ^ a b Westland Lysander in Indian Air Force Service Archived 2008-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ IAF-Tempest Archived 2014-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Consolidated B-24 Liberator [https://web.archive.org/web/20120112225702/http://bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Images/Vintage/Fighters/Liberator/ Archived 2012-01-12 at the Wayback Machine. Bharat-rakshak.com (2007-01-18). Retrieved on 2010-09-08.
  10. ^ Jackson 1988, pp. 76–77.
  11. ^ Jackson 1988, pp. 78
  12. ^ "De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  13. ^ Canberra Farewell - Revell 1/72 B(I) 58. Bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-08.
  14. ^ Donald 1997, p.523.
  15. ^ "MiG-21 FL flies into history today after serving the IAF for 50 years". ibnlive.in.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  16. ^ A Whale Of A Fighter: The Su-7 In IAF Service Archived 2009-12-30 at the Wayback Machine. Bharat-rakshak.com (1971-12-12). Retrieved on 2010-09-08.
  17. ^ Last Flight of the MiG-23 BN [https://web.archive.org/web/20110609205352/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Images/Special/PRO/2009/LastFlight_MIG_23.jpg.html Archived 2011-06-09 at the Wayback Machine. Bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-08.
  18. ^ Pradhan & Chavan 2007, p. xiv
  19. ^ "MiG-27 goes into history: Legacy of Indian Air Force's bahadur valiant". India Today. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  20. ^ Swansong of the Iskaras Archived 2007-11-18 at the Wayback Machine

Bibliography

  • Andrade, John, U.S.Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909 Midland Counties Publications, 1979, ISBN 0 904597 22 9.
  • Green, William, The Indian Air Force and its Aircraft Ducimus Books, London, 1982, ASIN B004YXNILM
  • 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
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