The Indian Air Force (IAF; Devanāgarī: भारतीय वायु सेना, Bharatiya Vāyu Senā) is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict. It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Raj and the prefix Royal was added in 1945 in recognition of its services during World War II. After India achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, the Royal Indian Air Force served the Dominion of India, with the prefix being dropped when India became a republic in 1950.
Since independence, the IAF has been involved in four wars with neighbouring Pakistan and one with the People's Republic of China. Other major operations undertaken by the IAF include Operation Vijay – the invasion of Goa, Operation Meghdoot, Operation Cactus and Operation Poomalai. Apart from conflicts, the IAF has been an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
The President of India Pranab Mukherjee serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the IAF. The Chief of Air Staff, an Air Chief Marshal (ACM), is a four-star commander and commands the Air Force. There is never more than one serving ACM at any given time in the IAF. One officer Arjan Singh, DFC has been conferred the rank of Marshal of the Air Force, a five-star rank and the officer serves as the ceremonial chief.
In its publication the Military Balance 2010, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) estimates that the Indian Air Force has a strength of 127,000 active personnel. However, various reliable sources provided notably divergent estimates of its strength over the years. The air force is estimated to have more than 1,500 aircraft in active service during 2011/2012.
Read more about Indian Air Force: Mission, History, Structure, Personnel, Aircraft Inventory, Future
Other articles related to "indians, air force, indian, indian air force, air":
... the Government of India (under British rule) decided to take some Indians in the Royal Air Force ... Matriculation in 1929 and was one of the first six Indian males selected to undergo two years of flying training at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell ... On 8 October 1932, the six Indians cadets were commissioned in the Royal Air Force ...
... Indian defence companies such as HAL and DRDO are developing several aircraft for the IAF such as the HAL Tejas, Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), DRDO AEW CS (revived from the ... DRDO is developing the air launched version of the Brahmos cruise missile in a joint venture with Russia's NPO Mashinostroeyenia ...
15 January – An Afghan National Army Air Corps Mil Mi-17 Hip Helicopter crashes in Herat Province in western Afghanistan. 20 January – Two Spanish Air Force Dassault Mirage F1 on a training flight, collide in midair. 21 January – An Indian Air Force HAL HJT-16 Kiran Mk.2 military trainer aircraft from the No ...
... The First Head Of Training Team of The Indian National Defence Academy ... A great Leading light and Administrator in the Royal Indian air Force, who introduced Air Force Instruction 12 S/48 for the benefit of Indian Air Force personnel, whose name is to be written in Golden letters in the ...
... Indian Air Force No. 1 Squadron, Indian Air Force No. 3 Squadron, Indian Air Force No ...
Famous quotes containing the words force, indian and/or air:
“Awareness of the stars and their light pervades the Koran, which reflects the brightness of the heavenly bodies in many verses. The blossoming of mathematics and astronomy was a natural consequence of this awareness. Understanding the cosmos and the movements of the stars means understanding the marvels created by Allah. There would be no persecuted Galileo in Islam, because Islam, unlike Christianity, did not force people to believe in a “fixed” heaven.”
—Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist. Islam and Democracy, ch. 9, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Trans. 1992)
“This Indian camp was a slight, patched-up affair, which had stood there several weeks, built shed-fashion, open to the fire on the west.... Altogether it was about as savage a sight as was ever witnessed, and I was carried back at once three hundred years.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Then, that no region of the universe
Should remain void of life, the floor of heaven
Was peopled with the stars and godlike forms,
The seas became the abode of glittering fish.
Earth took the beasts and mobile air the birds.
A holier animal was wanting.”
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)