Page 33 - ADT MAY / JULY 2024 Digital Magazine | GBP

THE NEXT

BIG STEP

The modernisation of the Indian Air Force is gathering pace

By ATUL CHANDRA
T he Indian Air Force (IAF) upgrades in the IAF’s combat F3, Eurofighter Typhoon, MiG-35,

capability.
Sukhoi SU-35, Lockheed Martin
has now succeeded in
modernising a signifi-
cant portion of its air assets and MRFA Saga F-21 have all thrown their hat in
the ring. The original Request for
ground based infrastructure. The Information (RFI) issued in 2018
modernisation of the air force has The air force continues its pursuit called for procurement of 83 single
been a challenging endeavour with of a Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft seat aircraft and 27 twin-seat
legacy platforms continuing to serve (MRFA) to add to its acquisition of fighters.
well past their prime and the huge 36 Rafales contracted for in 2016.
expense involved in inducting new The six additional MRFA squadrons Indigenous Future
combat platforms. will dramatically boost the combat
capability of the IAF, though budget The indigenous twin-engine
The IAF is now thought to have constraints could impinge on the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft
approximately 30-31 operational 110 aircraft requirement. The new (AMCA) being developed by the
fighter squadrons comprised of multi-role fighter would be required Aeronautical Development Agency
Dassault Rafale F3, Sukhoi SU-30 to undertake missions such as; Air (ADA) is an ambitious domestic
MKI, Mirage 2000 I/TI, , MiG-29 Superiority, Air Defence, Ground programme that aims to deliver
UPG, Jaguar, MiG-21 ‘Bison’ and Attack, Electronic Warfare (EW) an indigenous 4.5 gen fighter
Tejas Mk-1 aircraft. The last of 36 missions and Reconnaissance. to the IAF, sometime in the next
Rafales was inducted into service Boeing’s F-15EX, Dassault Rafale decade. The air force has a stated
in December 2022 and the air force
has rapidly operationalised the
highly sophisticated type.

Other important inductions in the
last few years include the C-130J
and C-17 transport aircraft, along
with CH-47 Chinook utility helicop-
ters and the AH-64 E Apache attack
helicopters from the USA. The air
force has also been upgrading its
Surface to Air Missile (SAM) capa-
bilities, both in terms of the Medium
Range SAM (MR SAM) which was
recently inducted as well as the
potent Russian S-400 long-range
SAM system. All these acquisitions
have contributed to a substantial
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