List of active Indian military aircraft
Updated: Wikipedia source
The Indian Armed Forces consists of Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force. These three arms and the Indian Coast Guard operate a combination of combat, reconnaissance, tanker, and transport aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Su-30MKI, assembled in India, forms the major inventory of the Indian combat aircraft. Tejas was the first indigenous fighter aircraft, which became part of the air force in 2015. Rafale is the latest entry into the air force, having being inducted in July 2020. Other combat aircraft include the Russian MiG 29, French Mirage, and British Jaguar aircraft. The armed forces operate a combination of various transport aircraft including tactical and strategic airlifters. Majority of this fleet is composed of the legacy Antonov An-32, Dornier 228, and Hawker Siddeley HS 748 aircraft. In the 2010s, the air force inducted large American air-lifters C-17 and C-130J aircraft in the fleet. In 2023, it started inducting C-295 transport aircraft to replace its older ageing fleet. The Indian helicopter fleet consists of the French Alouette and SA 315, which were license built in India. The Russian made Mil Mi-17 and Mil Mi-24 forms the major complement of the helicopter fleet. HAL has designed and built various helicopters locally for the usage of armed forces such as the Dhruv, Prachand, and Rudra. Since the late 2020s, India has inducted American made AH-64 and CH-47 into the fleet. The Indian fleet also consists of various other reconnaissance and trainer aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles which include both local and imported planes.