Independence Day 2021: A Look at IAF's Mighty Fighter Jet Fleet- Rafale, Sukhoi and More

Rafale

The French origin aircraft is a 4.5 generation, twin-engine multirole fighter designed to execute a wide range of missions including anti-ships attacks, in-depth strikes, air supremacy, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, interdiction and nuclear deterrence. Dassault Rafale literally means “gust of wind”. Dassault refers to the Rafale as an “omnirole” aircraft.

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Mirage 2000 – Vajra

One of the most versatile and deadliest aircrafts in the IAF, Mirage 2000 was inducted in 1985. It was designed as a lightweight fighter and evolved into a multirole aircraft with many variants developed. A multirole, single-engined, fourth-generation jet fighter, it can attain a maximum speed of 2,495 km/hr by a single engine. The Mirage-2000 played a crucial part in the 1999 Kargil war and the 2019 Balakot air strike.

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HAL Tejas

The Tejas is a single-engine multirole light fighter developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. The Tejas is the second supersonic fighter and came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme. In 2003, the official name of LCA became Tejas.

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MiG 21- Bison

The fighter and interceptor aircraft continues to serve many countries, six decades after its maiden flight. MiG 21 forms the backbone of the IAF and played a decisive role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The supersonic jet fighter is designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau and has a maximum speed of 2,230 km/hr.

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Sukhoi Su-30MKI

The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a multirole and air superiority fighter developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It is a twinjet, a heavy, all-weather, long-range fighter that can carry BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. The aircraft is tailor-made for Indian specifications and the IAF acquired the first domestically rebuilt Su-30MKI in 2018. https://twitter.com/IAF_MCC/status/1070139910672150530

Mig 27- Bahadur

MiG 27 is a variable-sweep ground-attack aircraft. Over the last four decades, it held the roots of the ground attack fleet of Indian Air Force (IAF). Mig-27 aircrafts earned the the moniker Bahadur meaning valiant. In 2019, IAF retired the last two MiG-27 squadrons with a ceremony at Jodhpur air base.

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Jaguar– Shamsher

The jet attack aircraft was originally conceived as a jet trainer with a light ground attack capability. It later evolved to carry out supersonic performance, reconnaissance and tactical nuclear strike roles. The Indian Air Force (IAF) uses the upgraded Jaguar, which is built locally by HAL under a license agreement. IAF recently added Avionics support to upgrade its entire fleet of Jaguars.

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MiG 29- Baaz

India became the first and one of the largest exporters of MiG-29. It is a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft which was initially oriented for combat against any enemy aircraft. Later, many aircrafts were furnished to perform a number of different operations.

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Since 2012, IAF uses the Indian UPG version which is the most advanced MiG-29 variant ever.

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