With the latest inclusion, experts hold the belief that India's active combat aircraft would give the country an edge over both Pakistan and China in terms of air strike capability, as both China and Pakistan can not match with air to air and the air to ground strike capabilities of the Indian military power.
Here's a look at the fleet of Indian Air Force
Dassault Rafale
The first five of the thirty-six best-in-class omni-role Rafale fighter jets which flew out from the Dassault Aviation's Merignac facility base in French port city of Bordeaux on Monday (July 27), touched down at the Indian Air Force's 'Golden Arrow' Squadron at Ambala, Haryana on Wednesday July 29.
In 2016, the defence ministry signed a whopping Rs 59,000-crore deal on Sept 23, for 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation. Of the 36, five have already landed in Indian while 31 are yet to arrive.
The first 4.5 generation aircraft fleet comprises three single-seater- and two twin-seater- combat jets which will have HAMMER missiles, along with beyond visual range missiles like Meteor, SCALP, and MICA.
These omnirole aircraft are capable of interdiction, ground support, aerial reconnaissance, in-depth aerial strikes, anti-ship strikes and even carrying out nuclear attacks (if the military conflict escalates to a nuclear conflict). These are considered to be much deadlier China's premier fighter jet Chengdu J-20A.
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HAL Tejas
The indigenously-manufactured Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is a supersonic, single-seat, single-engine multirole light fighter jet that has been under development since 1983.
It is a multi-role light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
The light combat aircraft is fully equipped with technologies such as relaxed static stability, fly-by-wire flight control system, advanced avionics, multi-mode radar and modern weapons. Tejas together with its variants, is the smallest and lightest multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft of its class.
Sukhoi Su-30
Sukoi-30 MKI is a Russian made - multirole nuclear-capable aircraft which can penetrate deep into enemy territory.
Also known as Flanker (NATO), the Su-30 MKI is built in India by HAL under the license agreement with Russia’s Sukhoi. It is the most advanced fighter jet in operation with the Indian Air Force and is the primary air to air and air to ground strike machine.
Equipped with a digital fly-by-wire system, the Sukhoi-30 is able to perform some very advanced manoeuvres, including the Pugachev's Cobra and the tailslide. These manoeuvers quickly decelerate the aircraft, causing a pursuing fighter to overshoot, as well as breaking a Doppler radar-lock, as the relative speed of the aircraft drops below the threshold where the signal registers to the radar.
India currently has 272 of Sukhoi-30 jets. Ministry of Defence (MoD) earlier this month, approved Indian Air Force request to buy 12 new Sukhoi 30 fighter aircrafts from Russia. the Su-30 MKI will be procured from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at an estimated cost of Rs 10,730 crore.
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Mirage 2000
It is a French multirole fighter jet built by Dassault Aviation. The Mirage 2000 is a single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter which was inducted into the IAF in 1978.
Post its commissioning into the Indian Air Force, it was dubbed as 'Vajra,' meaning lightening thunderbolt in Sanskrit. Mirage 2000 is equipped to carry a range of air-to-surface missiles and weapons including laser-guided bombs.
The Mirage 2000 fighter jets can fly at low altitude without being noticed and the Indian Air Force used this particular feature to good effect during their strikes on Tuesday. The IAF was able to drop bombs in some 88 km inside the LoC, mainly because of Mirage 2000 aircraft.
Mirage 2000 has nine hardpoints for carrying weapon system payloads: five on the fuselage and two on each wing. The single-seat version is also armed with two internally mounted, high-firing-rate 30mm guns. Mirage 2000 has an upgraded digital weapon delivery and navigation system (WDNS). The aircraft is fitted with a TV/CT CLDP laser designation pod from Thales Optronics, which provides the capability to fire laser-guided weapons by day and night.
Mig-21
The MiG-21 fighter jet which for over four decades have been part of Indian Air Force’s front-line attack repertoire is known to be one of most combat friendly fighter jets that have turned the tide of many aerial combats in their countries favour during wars fought to grapple supremacy in the airspace.
The MiG-21 famously known as the Bison in the IAF, is mostly a single-seater fighter jet with a long fuselage and delta wings. The jet is 14.7 metre long and has a wingspan of 7.1 metre. The MiG-21 was the first fighter jet to achieve supersonic speed of Mach 1.05 (1300 kmph) and still operates at the same speed. The MiG-21 held a record for being the most-produced supersonic jet aircraft in aviation history and the longest production run of a combat aircraft.
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Mig-29
Mig-29 is a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, Mig-29 was used during the Kargil War to escort Mirage-2000 to the attack targets. IAF has three squadrons of the MiG-29s which have been undergoing upgrades for extended life.
India currently has 65 Mig-29 jets. Ministry of Defence (MoD) earlier this month, approved Indian Air Force request to buy 21 new Mig-19 fighter jets from Russia. The aerial defence had also requested centre to buy the entire lot of equipment associated with the fighter planes in an apparent bid to prevent the issue of spares in the future. According to a statement given by the ministry, the MIG 29 procurement and upgradation from Russia is estimated to cost Rs 7,418 crore.
SEPECAT Jaguar
SEPECAT Jaguar is single-seat, swept-wing, twin-engine monoplane design, with tall tricycle-type retractable landing gear, which is developed together by British Royal Air Force and French Air Force.
Alsoknown as Shamsher, the SEPECAT Jaguar fighter jet serves IAF as primary ground attack aircraft, and is quite different from the RAF’s Jaguar.