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 1005 in recognition of
its services during World War II. After India became independent 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 Cactusand Operation Poomalai.
Apart from conflicts, the IAF has been an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
AF. The Chief
of Air Staff, anAir 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 127,000 active personnel.
However, various reliable sources provided notably divergent estimates of its
strength over the years. Flightglobal (Flight International)
estimates there to be around 1,588 aircraft in service with the IAF, according
to its World Air Forces 2015 publication.[1]
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