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(Top) 1 Aircraft 2 See also 3 References 3.1 Notes 3.2 Citations 3.3 Bibliography

List of historical aircraft of the Indian Air Force

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Aircraft

[edit]

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 AnsonI	United Kingdom	Basic trainer	1942	1945	7	^[2]
Boulton Paul Defiant TT.III	United Kingdom	Target tug	1944	1945	?
Bristol BlenheimI	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 LysanderII	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 bisD	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]}

References

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

^ ex-RAF World War Two lend-lease bombers refurbished by HAL.

^ Target tug from 1965, retired in 1967.

^ 247 built under licence by HAL.

^ PR.55 were T.55s converted to photo reconnaissance.

^ 60 T.55s built under licence by HAL.

^ licence built by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL)

^ other variants remain operational.

^ includes 42 built by HAL.

^ Some sources indicate that the S-55 was in use until 1968

^ 6 MiG-25RBK and 2 MiG-25RU

^ 26 aircraft bought in the 1990s.

^ Other variants still operational

^ improved Folland Gnat, includes 10 upgraded Gnats.

Citations

[edit]

^ The Westland Wapiti in Indian Air Force Archived 2013-07-28 at the Wayback Machine

^ "No. 1 Service Flying Training School (India)". Archived from the original on 3 August 2012.

^ Andrade 1979, p. 239

^ "Indian Air Force Gallery :: Training in the IAF".

^ ^a ^b ^c IAF-Spitfire Archived 2007-12-06 at the Wayback Machine

^ "History of IAF". Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2013.

^ ^a ^b Westland Lysander in Indian Air Force Service Archived 2008-01-15 at the Wayback Machine

^ IAF-Tempest Archived 2014-08-24 at the Wayback Machine

^ 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.

^ Jackson 1988, pp. 76–77.

^ Jackson 1988, pp. 78

^ "De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.

^ Canberra Farewell - Revell 1/72 B(I) 58. Bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-08.

^ Donald 1997, p.523.

^ "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.

^ 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.

^ 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.

^ Pradhan & Chavan 2007, p. xiv

^ "MiG-27 goes into history: Legacy of Indian Air Force's bahadur valiant". India Today. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.

^ Swansong of the Iskaras Archived 2007-11-18 at the Wayback Machine

Bibliography

[edit]

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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