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 Empire 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 annexation 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 ex-officio 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. The rank of Marshal of the Air
Force has been conferred once, to Arjan Singh,
by the president of India on 26 Jan 2002 and he became first five-star
rank holding officer of IAF & serves as the ceremonial chief.
In its publication the Military Balance 2010, the International Institute for Strategic Studies
(IISS) estimates that the Indian Air Force has a strength of 175,000
active personnel. However, various reliable sources provided notably
divergent estimates of its strength over the years. Flightglobal estimates there to be to 1,499 aircraft in active service during 2013/2014
The IAF's mission is defined by the Armed Forces Act of 1947, Constitution of India and the Air Force Act of 1950, in the aerial battlespace, as:
| “ | Defence of India and every part thereof including preparation for defence and all such acts as may be conducive in times of war to its prosecution and after its termination to effective demobilisation. | ” |
Thus, the IAF has the primary objective of safeguarding Indian
territory and national interests from all threats in conjunction with
the other branches of the armed forces by defending Indian airspace. The
IAF provides close air support to the Indian Army troops in the battlefield and also provides strategic and tactical airlift capabilities. The IAF also operates the Integrated Space Cell together with the other two branches of the Indian Armed Forces, the civilian Department of Space and the Indian Space Research Organization
(ISRO) to utilise more effectively the country's space-based assets for
military purposes and to look into threats to these assets.
The Indian Air Force along with the other branches of the Indian
Armed Forces provide assistance in disaster relief such as during
natural calamities by undertaking evacuation or search-and-rescue (SAR)
operations and air dropping relief supplies in affected areas. The IAF provided extensive assistance to relief operations during natural calamities such as the Gujarat cyclone in 1998, the Tsunami in 2004 and North India floods in 2013. The IAF also provides assistance to other countries during relief activities such as Operation Rainbow in Sri Lanka.
