Explainer: From five to 62 years – A look at the age profile of IAF’s aircraft fleet
For 62 years, the venerable MiG-21 emblazoned the skies over the Indian subcontinent and would now fly into the sunset on September 19, making it the longest serving fighter jet in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the second-longest continually operating aircraft after the Avro.
The phasing out of the MiG-21 would leave the IAF with six types of fighter jets in its inventory, including the indigenous Tejas that is affected by a slow production rate, and dwindling squadron strength. Some of these existing fighter jets are over four decades old.
Chandigarh’s tryst with new inductions
Though the remaining MiG-21s are based at Nal air base in Rajasthan, the phasing out ceremony is expected to be held at Chandigarh Air Force Station, where the aircraft were inducted into service in 1963 with No. 28 Squadron, ‘The First Supersonics’, then commanded by Wing Commander Dilbagh Singh who later rose to become Chief of the Air Staff.
Chandigarh air base, at present, a logistics hub hosting medium and heavy transport aircraft and helicopters like the AN-32, IL-76, Mi-26 Chinook and detachments of the C-17, has in the past witnessed the induction of several aircrafts including the MiG-21, AN-12, Mi-26, IL-76 and Chinook.
Till the early 2000s, the sprawling base was also the home of several fighter squadrons. No.21 Squadron, ‘Ankush’, equipped with the MiG-21, was the last fighter unit to operate from Chandigarh before relocating to Sirsa in Haryana.
Over 700 MiG-21s, which were India’s first non-western fighters, were procured by the IAF, which formed the backbone of its fighter element. Many were license-produced by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which is now focusing on the production of Tejas.
The two remaining squadrons of the MiG-21 are No.3 Squadron, the ‘Cobras’ and No.23 Squadron, the ‘Panthers’, operating the Bison version, which was upgraded with advanced avionics and weapons in the late 1990s. The Cobras, then stationed in Ambala, were the first to receive the Bisons.
Depleting squadron strength
The IAF has a sanctioned strength of 42 fighter squadrons to meet its operational requirements, but with the last of the MiG-21s gone, it will be down to just 29. The past two decades have witnessed the phasing out of several aircraft types like the MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27 and the squadrons operating them being ‘number-plated’, that is they no longer exist beyond archived official records.
Fresh inductions have not kept pace with retirements. Aircraft like the Anglo-French Jaguar, the French Mirage-2000 and the Russian MiG-29 are now approaching the end of their technical life, having already undergone mid-life upgrades and life extensions. The French Rafale and the HAL Tejas, which is the MiG-21’s replacement, are the only two new aircrafts but are a generation behind other contemporary aircrafts like the Russian Su-57, US F-35 and China’s J-20.
The current strength of the IAF’s combat fleet is around 650. According to experts, only about 15 per cent of the IAF’s fleet, comprising the Rafale and Tejas, is less than 10 years old. About 50-60 per cent, mainly comprising the SU-30, falls in the middle-age category, that is 15-25 years old, while the remaining fleet of Jaguars, Mirage 2000 and MiG-29 is above 35 years and classified as old.
The Jaguars were inducted in 1979, followed by the Mirage-2000 and MiG-29 in the mid-1980s. The Sukhoi began entering service in 2002 and some limited production is still underway at HAL. The Rafale was inducted in 2020. Limited numbers of Tejas first entered service in 2016 and seial production by HAL to meet the IAF’s requirements is yet to pick up.
Helicopters and transport aircraft
Fighter jets apart the IAF’s transport and helicopter fleet are also ageing. The Soviet-origin AN-32s and IL-76s that form the bulk of the airlift element were inducted in the mid-1980s. Even the Chetak and Cheetah light helicopters, that date back to the 1960s, are at the end of their technical life span.
The oldest aircraft flying in the IAF is the Hawker Siddeley HS 748, also known as the Avro, a transport aircraft which was inducted in 1961 and is used for communication and navigation training.
The C-17 Globemaster strategic airlifter, inducted in 2013 and the C-295 medium tactical airlifter that began entering IAF service in 2023 and is being assembled in India, are taking over the tasks of the IL-76 and Avro.
Interestingly, the C-130 Super Hercules, a medium lift transport aircraft that entered IAF service in 2011, holds the record for being the longest continually produced aircraft in the world. Introduced in the US in 1956, it is still being manufactured. The longest serving aircraft is the Boeing B-52 strategic nuclear bomber that entered service with the US Air Force in 1952 and remains fully operational, though production had ceased in 1962.
India