List of historical aircraft of the Indian Air Force

Aircraft

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]
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 [note 8]
Sikorsky S-55 United States Helicopter 1954 1966 8 [note 9]
Sikorsky S-62B United States Helicopter 1960 1979 2
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
Acquisitions after 1965 war
HAL Krishak India Liaison 1965 1988 68
HAL Pushpak India Basic trainer 1965 1967 25
Hawker Hunter F.56 United Kingdom Fighter 1966 1992 55
Sukhoi Su-7 Fitter Soviet Union Fighter-bomber 1968 1986 140 [16]
Tupolev Tu-124 Soviet Union Transport 1966 1981 3
Acquisitions after 1971 war
HAL Ajeet India Fighter 1977 1991 89 [note 10]
HAL HPT-32 Deepak India Primary trainer 1984 2009 144 [17]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 BN Soviet Union Fighter-bomber 1981 2009 95 [18]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 MF & ML Soviet Union Fighter 1982 2007 40
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 RBK & RU Soviet Union Reconnaissance 1981 2006 10 [note 11][19]
Mikoyan MiG-27 ML Soviet Union Fighter 1985 2019 165 [20]
PZL TS-11 Iskra bis D Poland Basic trainer 1975 2004 76 [note 12][21]
SEPECAT Jaguar GR.I United Kingdom/France Ground attack 1979 1984 16 [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. ^ improved Folland Gnat, includes 10 upgraded Gnats.
  11. ^ 6 MiG-25RBK and 2 MiG-25RU
  12. ^ 26 aircraft bought in the 1990s.
  13. ^ Other variants still operational

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 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. ^ HAL HPT-32 Deepak Bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved on 2024-08-08.
  18. ^ Last Flight of the MiG-23 BN Archived 2011-06-09 at the Wayback Machine. Bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-08.
  19. ^ Pradhan & Chavan 2007, p. xiv
  20. ^ "MiG-27 goes into history: Legacy of Indian Air Force's bahadur valiant". India Today. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  21. ^ 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