2. FORMATION OF INDIAN AIR FORCE
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed
Forces.
• Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks fourth
amongst the air forces of the world.
• Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to
conduct aerial warfare during armed conflict.
• It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air
force of the British Empire which honoured India's aviation service
during World War II.
• After India gained independence from United Kingdom in 1947, the
name Royal Indian Air Force was kept and served in the name
of Dominion of India.
3. THE LOGO & MOTTO OF INDIAN
AIR FORCE
“ नभः स्पृशं दीप्तम्”
“Touch the sky with
Glory”
The Motto of Indian Air Force
(Touch the sky with Glory)
has been taken from eleventh
chapter of the Gita, the
Discourse given by Lord
Krishna to Arjuna on the
battlefield of Kurukshetra
during the Great War of
Mahabharata.
4.
5. MISSIONS
1. 1947 War with Pakistan
2. 1961 Liberation of Goa, Daman and Diu from the Portuguese
(Operation Vijay)
3. 1961 Liberation of Goa, Daman and Diu from the Portuguese
(Operation Vijay)
4. 1984 Operation Meghdoot
5. 1999 Kargil War (Operation Safed Sagar)
6. 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami &
2005 Kashmir Earthquake
6. 1. 1947 War with Pakistan
• The first test for the Independent
Royal Indian Air Force came within
months of August 15 after a full blown
war took place on the issue of
Kashmir.
• The Operation was unique in the
sense that this was the first time the
transport aircraft of the IAF saw full-
time deployment in operations.
• India defeated Pakistan in the very
first battlefield engagement. Fighter
squadrons gained exposure and
experience of operating in the
mountainous environment.
7. 2. 1961 Liberation of Goa, Daman and Diu from the
Portuguese (Operation Vijay)
• In December 1961, India undertook
military action to evict the Portuguese
rulers out of the enclaves of Goa, Diu
and Daman and eventually
succeeding ending more than 450
years of Portuguese rule in India.
• All the three sections of the Indian
armed forces participated in this
Operation. The Indian Air Force
bombed the runway of Dabolim
Airfield (Goa International Airport) and
cut off the Portuguese territory from
outside control or interference.
8. 3. 1971 War with Pakistan
• The Indian Air Force achieved
remarkable success as it achieved
complete air superiority in the first
48 hours. Every Indian knows what
happened at the end of this war. In
addition to that, the Indian Air
Force helped the Indian Army and
Navy by providing massive air
support.
• A total of 94 Pakistani aircraft were
shot down. The war in 1971
revealed the true air-air combat
capabilities of the MiG-21. India
emerged victorious both in terms of
objectives attained and
losses/gains versus the enemy.
9. 4. 1984 Operation Meghdoot
• Operation Meghdoot was the
code-name for the Indian
Armed Forces operation to
capture the world’s highest
battlefield Siachen Glacier.
• Indian troops managed to
gain two-third of the glacier
with the rest remaining under
Pakistani control.
10. 5. 1999 Kargil War (Operation Safed
Sagar)
• This was the first time in the history
of military aviation that air power
was used at a height of up to
32,000 feet by the IAF.
• IAF’s Mirage 2000 aircraft which
carried out surgical operations to
assist ground troops in securing
the strategically crucial Tiger Hill
from its Pakistani captors.
• Operation Safed Sagar started on
May 26, 1999, and on July 11,
1999, all the military objectives
were achieved. Undoubtedly, this
conflict was a milestone event in
Indian military history.
11. 6. 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami &
2005 Kashmir Earthquake
• The IAF reached the eastern coast of
India within an hour of the destructive
tsunami hitting the western coast of
Sumatra, Indonesia. They helped in
relief operations as well as in search
and rescue.
• An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the
Richter scale struck near
Muzzafarabad in Pakistan-occupied-
Kashmir on October 8, 2005. IAF sent
tonnes of relief materials immediately
including army medicines, blankets,
and food packets.
12. Post Current Holder
Chief of the Air Staff
Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, PVSM,
AVSM, VM, ADC[101]
Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, PVSM, AVSM, VM[102]
Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, VM[103]
Air Officer in Charge of Administration Air Marshal Vijay Pal Singh Rana, VSM[104]
Air Officer in Charge of Personnel Air Marshal Suraj Kumar Jha, AVSM[105]
Air Officer in Charge of Maintenance Air Marshal Vibhas Pande, VSM[106]
Director General of Air Operations Air Marshal Pankaj Mohan Sinha, AVSM, VSM[107]
Director General of Inspection and Flight Safety Air Marshal Gurcharan Singh Bedi, AVSM, VM, VSM[108]
Director General of Medical Services (Air) Air Marshal Prashant Bharadwaj, VSM,[109]
Structure of ‘IAF’
The President of India is the Supreme Commander of all Indian armed forces and by virtue of that fact is the
national Commander-in-chief of the Air Force. The Chief of the Air Staff with the rank of Air chief marshal is the
Commander. In January 2002, the government conferred the rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force on Arjan
Singh making him the first and only Five-star officer with the Indian Air Force and ceremonial chief of the air force.
13. Name Headquarters Commander
Central Air Command (CAC) Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
Air Marshal Richard John
Duckworth, AVSM, VSM[112][113]
Eastern Air Command (EAC) Shillong, Meghalaya
Air Marshal Amit Dev, AVSM,
VM[114]
Southern Air Command (SAC) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
South Western Air
Command (SWAC)
Gandhinagar, Gujarat
Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, AVSM,
VM[115]
Western Air Command (WAC) New Delhi
Air Marshal Balabhadra Radha
Krishna, AVSM, SC[116]
Training Command (TC)+ Bangalore, Karnataka
Air Marshal Manavendra Singh,
AVSM, VrC, VSM[117]
Maintenance Command (MC)+ Nagpur, Maharashtra
Air Marshal Shashiker Choudhary,
VSM[118]
Commands of
‘IAF’
14. IAF INVENTORY
The Indian Air Force has aircraft and equipment of Russian
(erstwhile Soviet Union), British, French, Israeli, U.S, and
Indian origins with Russian aircraft dominating its inventory.
HAL produces some of the Russian and British aircraft in
India under license. The exact number of aircraft in service
with the Indian Air Force cannot be determined with
precision from open sources. Various reliable sources
provide notably divergent estimates for a variety of high-
visibility aircraft. As of (year) 2010 - 2011, according to Flight
global there are 1,351 aircraft in active service.
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20. GLORY OF INDIAN AIR FORCE
Although the history of the Indian Air Force is
very big and great in itself, it is very difficult to
describe it in some papers but I have tried my
best that I can tell you some things about it.
Thank you
