List of active Indian military aircraft

The Indian Armed Forces consists of Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.^[1] These three arms and the Indian Coast Guard operate a combination of combat, reconnaissance, tanker, and transport aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles.^[2]

Indian military aircraft

Various Indian military aircraft; Left to right:
1. SEPECAT Jaguar
2. Mikoyan MiG-29UPG
3. Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk
4. HAL Chetak
5. Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules
6. Ilyushin Il-78MKI with Dassault Mirage 2000s

The Su-30MKI, assembled in India, forms the major inventory of the Indian combat aircraft.^[3] Tejas was the first indigenous fighter aircraft, which became part of the air force in 2015.^[4] Rafale is the latest entry into the air force, having being inducted in July 2020.^[5] Other combat aircraft include the Russian MiG 21 and MiG 29, French Mirage, and British Jaguar aircraft.^[2] 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.^[2] In the 2010s, the air force inducted large American air-lifters C-17 and C-130J aircraft in the fleet.^[6][7] In 2023, it started inducting C-295 transport aircraft to replace its older ageing fleet.^[8]

The Indian helicopter fleet consists of the French Alouette and SA 315, which were license built in India.^[9] The Russian made Mil Mi-17 and Mil Mi-24 forms the major complement of the helicopter fleet.^[2] HAL has designed and built various helicopters locally for the usage of armed forces such as the Dhruv, Prachand, and Rudra.^[10] Since the late 2020s, India has inducted American made AH-64 and CH-47 into the fleet.^[11] The Indian fleet also consists of various other reconnaissance and trainer aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles which include both local and imported planes.^[2]

Air Force

Dassault Rafale

HAL Tejas

Sukhoi Su-30MKI

Netra AEW&C on Embraer ERJ 145

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III

Airbus C-295

Boeing AH-64 Apache

HAL Prachand

HAL LUH

HAL Kiran

Further information: Indian Air Force and Future of the Indian Air Force

See also: List of active Indian Air Force aircraft squadrons

The Indian Air Force was established in 1932.^[12] The air force operates about 90 air squadrons including 31 equipped with fighter aircraft.^[13][14] The air force maintains a fleet of combat, patrol, and Military transport aircraft, various helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles across more than 60 air bases in the country.^[15][16]

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Combat
Dassault Mirage 2000	France	Multirole	Mirage 2000H/I	36[17][18]	All aircraft being upgraded to 2000I/TI variant;[19][20] TH/TI is a two-seat variant used for training.[21]
			Mirage 2000TH/TI	10[17]
Dassault Rafale			Rafale DH	8[17]	Two-seat version[22]
			Rafale EH	28[17]	Single-seat version[22]
HAL Tejas	India		Tejas Mk 1	31[23][24]
			Tejas Mk 1A	–	170 on order[25][26]
		Conversion trainer	Tejas Mk 1 Trainer	6[27]	12 on order[27]
Mikoyan MiG-29	Soviet Union	Multirole	MiG-29B	7[17]
			MiG-29UPG	52[17][28]	Upgraded version of MiG-29B[29]
Sukhoi Su-30MKI	Russia / India[a]		Su-30MKI	259[30]	12 on order;[31] 84 to be upgraded[32]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21	Soviet Union / India	Interceptor	MiG-21 Bison	36[33]	To be retired on 19 September 2025[34]
SEPECAT Jaguar	United Kingdom / India[a]	Attack	Jaguar-IB	26[17][35]	Two-seat training version[36][37]
			Jaguar-IS	78[17]	Single-seat ground attack version[37]
			Jaguar-IM	8[17]	Single-seat maritime strike version[36][37]
AEW&C
Beriev A-50	Soviet Union	AEW&C	A-50EI	3[33]	2 on order[33]
Embraer R-99	Brazil / India[b]		Netra Mk1/Mk1A	3[33]	6 on order[38]
Airbus A321	Europe / India[b]	AEW&C	Netra Mk2	–	6 acquired from Air India, to be modified[39]
Reconnaissance
Bombardier Global 5000	Canada	ELINT	Global 5000	2[33]	Operated by Aviation Research Centre of R&AW[40][41]
Boeing 707	United States	Reconnaissance	707-337C	1[17]
Boeing 737			737-700	2[33]
Gulfstream III			III SRA[42]	3[33]
Gulfstream G100	Israel		1125 Astra	2[33]
Tanker
Airbus A330 MRTT	France	Tanker/transport	A330 MRTT	–	One to be wet leased from French Air Force;[43] Six planned[44]
Boeing KC-135	United States	Tanker	KC-135	–	One to be wet leased from Metrea;[45]
Ilyushin Il-78	Soviet Union		Il-78MKI	6[33]
Transport
Airbus A321	Europe	Transport	A321-200	4[33]
Boeing 777	United States		777-300ER	2[17]	Used as Air India One[46]
Embraer Legacy 600	Brazil	VIP transport	Legacy 6000	4[17][47]
Airbus C-295	Europe / India[c]	Tactical airlifter	C-295W	16[48]	40 on order[49]
Antonov An-32	Soviet Union		An-32RE	55[17][50]
			An-32	47[17]
Dornier 228	Germany / India[a]		228-201	61[33]
Hawker Siddeley HS 748	United Kingdom		HS 748	56[33]
Lockheed Martin C-130J	United States		C-130J-30[51]	12[33]
Boeing C-17		Strategic airlifter	C-17	11[33]
Ilyushin Il-76	Soviet Union		Il-76MD	17[33]
Helicopter
Aérospatiale Alouette III	France / India[a]	Utility	Chetak	79[33]
			Cheetal	18[52]
Aérospatiale SA 315B			Cheetah	18[33]
HAL Dhruv	India		Dhruv Mk I/III	95[33]
HAL Light Utility Helicopter			LUH	–	6 on order[53]
Boeing CH-47	United States	Transport	CH-47F	15[33]
Mil Mi-17	Russia		Mi-17V-5	222[33]
Boeing AH-64	United States	Attack	AH-64E	22[33]
HAL Prachand	India		Prachand	10[33]	66 on order[54]
HAL Rudra			Rudra	16[17]	50 on order[55]
Mil Mi-24	Russia		Mi-25/35	15[33]
Trainer
BAE Hawk	United Kingdom / India[a]	Advanced trainer	Hawk 132	102[33]
HAL Kiran	India	Intermediate trainer	HJT-16	77[33]
HAL HTT-40		Basic trainer	HTT-40	–	70 on order[56]
Pilatus PC-7	Switzerland		PC-7 Mk II	74[33]
Pipistrel Virus	Slovenia	Ab-initio trainer	Garud	72[57]
UAV
IAI Heron	Israel	Surveillance	Heron Mk II[58]	9[17]	2 on order[59]
IAI Searcher			Searcher Mk II	Few[17]
MQ-9 Reaper	United States	Combat / Surveillance	SkyGuardian	–	8 on order[60]

Army Aviation Corps

HAL Rudra

HAL Dhruv

IAI Heron

Further information: Army Aviation Corps (India)

The Army Aviation Corps was formed on 1 November 1986.^[61] It operates a series of helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles.^[62]

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Helicopter
Aérospatiale Alouette III	France / India[a]	Utility	Chetak	60[63]	To be phased out by 2033.[64][65][66]
Aérospatiale SA 315B			Cheetah	115[67]
HAL Dhruv	India		Dhruv Mk I/II/III	78[63]	25 on order[68]
HAL Light Utility Helicopter			LUH	–	6 on order;[53] 110 planned[69]
Boeing AH-64	United States	Attack	AH-64E	3[70]	3 on order[33][70]
HAL Prachand	India		Prachand	5[33]	90 on order;[54] 95 planned[69]
HAL Rudra			Rudra	74[67]
UAV
Asteria AT	India	Surveillance	AT-15	Unknown[71]
DRDO Nishant			Nishant	13[63][72]
IAI Heron	Israel		Heron Mk II	4[63]
IAI Searcher			Searcher Mk I/II	12[63]
IFT Switch	India		Switch 1.0	200[73]	Additional orders placed in June 2025[74]
Johnnette JF			JF-2	Unknown[75]
Newspace Beluga/Nimbus		Swarm	Beluga/Nimbus	100[76][77]
Endure Sabal		Cargo	Sabal 20	Unknown[78]
Raphe mPhibr MR			MR-20	48[72]
MQ-9 Reaper	United States	Combat / Surveillance	SkyGuardian	–	8 on order[60]

Naval Air Arm

MiG-29K operates from aircraft carriers

Boeing P-8I maritime patrol aircraft

Kamov Ka-31 naval helicopter

Sea King WS-61 of the Indian Navy

Further information: Indian Naval Air Arm and List of Indian naval aircraft

The air arm of the Indian Navy was established in 1948. The navy operates 26 air squadrons stationed across eight naval air stations that operate under the flag officers of the various naval commands.^[79][80] The air arm maintains a fleet of combat and maritime patrol aircraft, various helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles.^[81]

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Combat
Dassault Rafale	France	Multirole	Rafale M	–	26 (22 single-seat and four twin-seat) on order[82]
Mikoyan MiG-29K	Russia		MiG-29K / MiG-29KUB	40[83][84]	Includes six trainer aircraft[84][85]
Patrol / Utility
Boeing P-8	United States	ASW / Patrol	P-8I	12[86][33]
Britten-Norman BN-2	United Kingdom	Patrol / Utility	BN-2B/2T[87]	4[33]
Dornier 228	Germany / India[a]	Patrol / Surveillance	228-201	29[33]	6 on order[88]
Helicopter
Aérospatiale Alouette III	France / India[a]	Utility	Chetak	42[33]
HAL Dhruv	India		Dhruv Mk I/III	24[33]
Kamov Ka-27	Russia	ASW	Ka-28	14[33]
Westland Sea King	United Kingdom		WS-61 Mk 42B[89]	25[33]
Kamov Ka-31	Russia	AEW	Ka-31	14[33]
Sikorsky SH-60	United States	Combat / Utility	MH-60R[90]	13[91]	11 on order[92]
Trainer
BAE Hawk	United Kingdom / India[a]	Jet trainer	Hawk 132	17[33]
HAL Kiran	India		HJT-16	20[33]
Pipistrel Virus	Slovenia	Ab-initio trainer	Garud	12[57]
UAV
Elbit Hermes 900	Israel / India[d]	Surveillance	Drishti-10	1[93][94][95]
IAI Heron	Israel		Heron Mk I	10[89][96]
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper	United States	Combat / Surveillance	SeaGuardian	2[97]	15 on order[60]

Coast Guard

Further information: Indian Coast Guard

The Indian Coast Guard is a maritime armed force, which was formed in 1978. It is involved in the protection of the maritime and offshore assets, and protecting the oceanic boundaries.^[98]: 1 The coast guard operates various ships and aircraft including fixed wing reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters.^{[17][98]: 5}

Dornier 228 of the Indian Coast Guard

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Patrol
Dornier 228	Germany / India[a]	Patrol / Reconnaissance	228-101/201[99]	39[17]	Includes 2 upgraded in 2024[100]
Helicopter
Aérospatiale Alouette III	France / India[a]	Utility	Chetak	19[17]
HAL Dhruv	India		Dhruv Mk. I	4[101]
			Dhruv Mk. III	15[102][103]	9 on order[104] 6 more planned[105]

See also

• Active military equipment by country
• Border Security Force
• Future of the Indian Air Force
• Historical aircraft of the Indian Air Force
• Indian military missiles
• Indian military radars
• Military of India

Notes

1. License produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
2. To be fitted with AEW&CS by DRDO
3. To be manufactured by Tata Advanced Systems
4. Manufactured by Adani Defence in partnership with Elbit Systems