Future of the Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force plans to attain a 42 squadron strength by 2035 and deploy 450 fighter jets each along the borders of Pakistan and China.
The IAF will also acquire large numbers of stealthy autonomous UCAVs (DRDO Ghatak), swarm drones (ALFA-S) and uncrewed aircraft to transform into a fully advanced network-centric force capable of sustained multi-role operations along the entire spectrum.
[4][3] The IAF started training personnel, in 2023, to operate in space by incorporating theoretical studies at institutions such as the College of Air Warfare.
[5] In 2024, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, stated that the IAF has revised its existing doctrine and has recognized space as a critical domain for future operations.
[11][12] Additional ageing aircraft are to be retired, including:[2] During the Parliament Winter Session in 2024, the Comptroller and Auditor General published a report to highlight the increased deficiencies in pilot training in the IAF.
The upgrade is to be carried out by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with the support of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and several private companies.
[15][16][17] The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the ₹60,000 crore (US$6.9 billion) upgrade programme on 30 November 2023.
According to a report, "The project is divided into two phases, focusing initially on installing new avionics and radars, followed by enhancements to the flight control systems."
[24][25] of frames First 16 C295s will be assembled by Airbus in Seville, Spain, while the remaining 40 will be built in partnership with TASL in Vadodara, India On 3 February 2021, the Ministry of Defence signed the contract with HAL for the procurement of 83 advanced HAL Tejas aircraft, which includes 73 Mark 1A and 10 Mark 1 trainer variants with advanced AESA Radars, jammers, superior avionics, next-gen BVR missiles, better payload, and enhanced combat range.
[42] On 30 November 2023, DAC accorded AoNs for the procurement of additional 97 Tejas Mk 1A for the IAF from HAL under Buy (Indian-IDDM) category[43][44] On 3 January 2017, Minister of Defence Manohar Parrikar addressed a media conference and announced plans for a competition to select a strategic partner to deliver "200 new single-engine fighters to be made in India, which will easily cost around US$45 million apiece without weaponry" with an expectation that Lockheed Martin (USA) and Saab (Sweden) will pitch the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon Block 70 and Saab JAS 39 Gripen, respectively.
[45] An MoD official said that a global tender will be put to market in the first quarter of 2018, with a private company nominated as the strategic partner's production agency followed by a two-or-more-year process to evaluate technical and financial bids and conduct trials, before the final government-to-government deal in 2021.
However, the plan to acquire foreign-made single-engine fighters was replaced by induction indigenous aircraft Tejas of different variants.
[29] Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) will jointly execute the project to equip the air force with 56 C-295 transport aircraft under the Make in India initiative in the aerospace sector.
The procurement of 56 C-295 from Airbus with the participation of an Indian production agency for the manufacture of 40 aircraft (out of a total of 56) in India is at the financial approval stage and the contract is likely to be signed in the near future, the defence ministry said in its year-end review.
The MTA programme is to replace the ageing in-service Antonov An-32 and Ilyushin Il-76 of the IAF with a fleet of 40/60/80 units of medium-class transport aircraft.
[49][50] As for the local manufacturing of the aircraft, on 9 February, Embraer announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mahindra Defence Systems to bid for the MTA tender.
In May 2020, the Chief of the Air Staff, ACM, R. K. S. Bhadauria announced there is a plan to shelve the order for the additional Pilatus PC-7 and instead opt for the indigenous HAL HTT-40.
[69] DRDO has also developed the nuclear-capable Nirbhay cruise missile, which is capable of hitting targets at 1,000 to 1,500 km (620 to 930 mi; 540 to 810 nmi) at 2 m (6 ft 7 in) accuracy.
[74] The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) is a twin-engined 5th generation stealth multirole fighter under development by ADA.
It is a further development of the HAL Tejas, or the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), programme which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters.
The Tejas Mk 2 is being designed to replace multiple strike-fighters like SEPECAT Jaguars, Dassault Mirage-2000 & MiG-29 of Indian Air Force.
There is confirmation from the chief of the Aeronautical Development Agency that MWF will shed its "Tejas" stamp and get a completely new name altogether during or after its first flight.
[86] HAL is designing & developing AI-powered, stealthy autonomous swarm drones known as ALFA-S in collaboration with a private firm in Bangalore.
If detected, some of the drones would be shot down, but the sheer numbers of the swarm would overwhelm enemy defences such as surface-to-air missile units to ensure a high probability of mission success.
The plan to develop indigenous swarming drones is a part of the Combat Air Teaming System project or CATS, which has three distinct elements.
In addition to the ALFA-S swarm drones, a robotic wingman, meant to accompany a crewed fighter jet into combat is being also being developed.
The final element of CATS is the development of an ultra-high altitude drone meant to remain flying for up to three weeks at a stretch while providing real-time images and video.
[91] The DRDO is developing a Medium Altitude Long Endurance Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) called the Rustom (English: Warrior) for all three branches of the Indian Armed Forces.
The AURA UCAV will be a tactical stealth aircraft built largely with composites, and capable of delivering laser-guided strike weapons.
[95] Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has nearly finished the developmental trial of the New Generation missile of Akash SAM known as Akash-NG.
