Amidst an ageing aircraft fleet, India’s air force is looking to indigenously develop platforms that enhance its combat potential.
The Indian Air Force (IAF), which is facing continued depletion of its fleet of combat fighters, is looking at the induction of indigenously developed aircraft and helicopters to maintain its combat effectiveness. This effort will be paired with domestic upgrades of imported platforms. At present, the air force’s most modern combat aircraft is its fleet of 36 Rafale fighter jets. These are backed by three squadrons each of upgraded Mirage 2000T/TIs and MiG-29UPGs. However, the backbone of the IAF is its fleet of approximately 270 Su-30MKI fighters, plus the IAF operates six squadrons of ageing Sepecat Jaguar strike aircraft.
“With the objective of maintaining the qualitative status with respect to our adversaries, the IAF has, over the years, upgraded its legacy fleets and brought them to near fourth-generation capability. However, because of their vintage, some sustainment issues do exist,” said an air force representative during a presentation to the Indian parliament in December 2024.
The IAF has also operationalised two squadrons of the indigenously developed Tejas Mk1 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), but its final two MiG-21 Bison squadrons are slated to be phased out of service this year. The more advanced Tejas Mk1A, whose deliveries are yet to begin, will replace the MiG-21 Bison fleet in the IAF. According to a retired IAF air marshal who formerly headed the Training Command, “Indigenous procurement of defence equipment is now inevitable and inescapable, and the air force has been factoring this into its procurement plans.”
Procurement pipeline
Indian state-owned aerospace entities, the Aeronautical Development Agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) are pursuing three indigenous fighter programmes of vital importance to the IAF. The force has 83 Tejas Mk1A LCAs on order, with the first supposed to have been delivered last year. The air force is also expecting to soon finalise a contract for 97 additional Tejas Mk1As. India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) cleared this procurement in November 2023, and the process of finalising the contract is ongoing. A formal deal is expected to be announced at Aero India 2025 in February. The air force has also said it will acquire six squadrons of the larger Tejas Mk2 “Medium-Weight Fighter” that is well into its development.
The Tejas Mk2 is a multirole combat aircraft intended to replace the air force’s Mirage 2000, MiG-29 and Jaguar fleets in the next decade. Compared to the smaller Tejas Mk1A, the Mk2 will feature an extensive self-defence capability to operate in dense and hostile air defence environments. The aircraft will be powered by a higher-thrust GE Aerospace F414-INS6 engine, thus offering significantly improved performance metrics. Additionally, it will feature an integral unified electronic warfare suite for survivability, a new digital flight control computer, and it will be easier to maintain compared to the Tejas Mk1/1A.
The air force will also look to acquire seven squadrons of the fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). “The deliveries for the LCA Mk2 and AMCA are expected to commence only into the next decade once the development cycle is successfully completed,” an official with knowledge of the programme told Asian Military Review. It is with this in mind that the air force is continuing to process the case for induction of an imported Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA), an order that will comprise 114 aircraft. However, the MRFA procurement is yet to receive an acceptance of necessity from the Indian MoD, a milestone that marks a formal start of the acquisition process.
Last December, the air force contracted HAL for twelve new-build Su-30MKIs along with associated equipment in a deal worth approximately US$1.6 billion. These aircraft will be built under license at HAL’s Nashik plant. It is likely to be India’s last order of the Su-30MKI. HAL also received an MoD contract in September 2024 for licensed production of 240 AL-31FP aero engines for the Su-30MKI fleet. This deal is worth approximately $3.2 billion.
“These aero engines are expected to fulfil the need of the IAF to sustain the operational capability of the Su-30 fleet for the defence preparedness of the country,” an MoD spokesperson stated. HAL has committed to supply all 240 engines by 2032, delivering them at a production rate of 30 engines per annum, as per the contractual delivery schedule.
Eighty-four aircraft within the Indian Su-30MKI fleet are also slated to receive a midlife upgrade. This programme will include greater indigenous content and the integration of new mission computers, avionics, radar, an electronic warfare suite and a greater variety of indigenous air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons. The air force will still continue to fly its MiG-29UPG fleet into the next decade. HAL’s Koraput division received an MoD contract for new RD-33 aero engines for the MiG-29 fleet in March 2024, this being worth approximately $640 million.
Trainer target
The IAF has 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft on order under a March 2023 contract. The air force has also committed to acquiring 36 additional HTT-40s after procurement and operationalisation of the first batch of 70 aircraft. Deliveries are to commence in September this year. The aerospace manufacturer is targeting a production rate of twelve aircraft per year, increasing to 16, and finally a peak production rate of 20 aircraft.
Initial production, as well as further development activities, will be carried out at HAL’s Bengaluru factory, but a significant number of production aircraft are planned for manufacture at HAL’s Nashik plant. The HTT-40 was designed and developed by HAL, which is also working to complete development of the HJT-36 intermediate jet trainer as a replacement for the HJT-16 Kiran.
Rotorcraft revival
Another large procurement is a soon-expected order for 156 indigenously developed Light Combat Helicopters (LCH). Named Prachand in Indian service, the LCH is manufactured by state-owned HAL too. The MoD approved the procurement of 156 LCHs in January 2024, with 90 slated for delivery to the Indian Army and 66 to the air force. The IAF is the lead service in this project. “HAL was issued a request for proposals for the attack helicopters in June 2024, and the Technical Evaluation Committee was constituted in August 2024 and is under progress,” an official with knowledge of the programme told AMR. The air force completed induction of its first batch of limited series production LCHs in February 2024.
A small order is also expected for the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH Mk1), a platform that is also indigenously designed and developed in India by HAL. The 3-tonne class, single-engine, multipurpose, utility helicopter offers outstanding high-altitude performance, and the type will be acquired by both the air force and army. Contract negotiations for the first batch of helicopters are under way between the MoD and HAL. Another vital programme for the air force and army is the future Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) that is being developed by HAL as a replacement for the Mi-17 fleet.
HAL has said that, between its four rotorcraft programmes, it expects to produce 1,000 helicopters of various types by the year 2045 at two production facilities. Its new helicopter factory, located in Tumakuru in Karnataka, is India’s largest helicopter manufacturing facility, and it will start off producing LUHs. “Initially, the factory will produce around 30 helicopters per year, and can be enhanced to 60 and then 90 per year in a phased manner,” an HAL official told AMR.
HAL’s rotorcraft ambitions recently received a blow, however, with a fleet-wide grounding of its 5.5-tonne-class Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). This was due to a fatal accident that resulted in the deaths of two pilots and one aircrew diver. An ALH Mk III helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) crashed on a Porbandar Airport runway while on a routine training sortie on 5 January this year. Following the fatal accident, the entire operational fleet of Dhruv helicopters in India – comprising approximately 330 aircraft – was grounded.
This fleet-wide grounding is a major blow to the air force and army, since they extensively utilise these helicopters. HAL is today producing the Dhruv in three main variants – the Mk III utility, Mk III maritime and Mk IV Weapons System Integrated (WSI). While the Mk III and Mk IV variants are operated by both the air force and army, the Mk III maritime variant is operated only by the Indian Navy and ICG. The navy also operates older Mk II variants of the Dhruv.
C295 transport programme shows the way
The IAF formally inducted its first C295MW transport aircraft into service in September 2023, marking an important milestone in the recapitalisation of its transport aircraft fleet. At least six aircraft have already been inducted by 11 Squadron based at Vadodara. Airbus is slated to deliver nine more C295s to the air force in flyaway condition by August 2025. Delhi has placed orders for 56 aircraft to replace its obsolete HS-748 Avro fleet, making India the largest customer worldwide for the C295 transport aircraft.
Under this project, 16 aircraft will be delivered by Airbus in fly-away condition, and 40 aircraft will be manufactured in India by a Tata consortium; the latter is led by Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), with Tata Consultancy Services and in collaboration with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain. The C295 programme is a first for India, in that this is the first time an Indian private-sector firm will produce a military aircraft under license there. “It will involve the full development of a complete ecosystem from the manufacture to assembly, test and qualification, to delivery and maintenance of the complete lifecycle of the aircraft,” an official involved in the programme told AMR.
The final assembly line (FAL) complex for the Airbus C295 aircraft in Vadodara, Gujarat was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2024. This is the first private-sector FAL for military aircraft in India. It is also the first time Airbus Defence has deployed the entire production system for an aircraft outside home nations.
The first Indian C295 assembled under license is slated to roll out in September 2026. The parts for the first aircraft have already been shipped to the Vadodara-based FAL, where the aircraft will be assembled and then delivered to the IAF. The final aircraft are to be handed over by August 2031.
The licensed manufacturing programme of the C295 in India will involve production of more than 85% structural components, and final assembly of 40 aircraft. Some 13,000 detail parts will be manufactured in India, for which 21 special processes have been certified, and 37 India-based suppliers, both from the private and public sectors, have been on-boarded. All 56 aircraft will be fitted with an indigenous electronic warfare suite that includes radar warning systems, missile warning sensors and countermeasure dispenser systems manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited.
In the balance
Despite these inductions, the IAF’s combat strength is woefully inadequate and will remain so until the government accepts that a threat of retaliation must be credible for any deterrence, cautioned Air Commodore (Retired) K.A Muthanna, a former Chief of Test Flying [Fixed Wing] at Hindustan Aeronautics. According to Muthanna, this is because the IAF will have to undertake operations along the entire maritime boundary in the case of an all-out war.
“The People’s Liberation Army Navy is the world’s largest and cannot be faced by the Indian Navy alone,” he stressed. The IAF needs to urgently induct new aircraft and, at the present moment, it is focused on the commencement of deliveries of the Tejas Mk1A, which is critical as the air arm will have to phase out its last two MiG-21 squadrons this year. Currently, the speedy induction of indigenously designed and developed platforms appears to be the only way for India to tilt the balance in its favour. However, any significant delays in indigenous programmes will disrupt the IAF’s efforts to recapitalise its combat aircraft inventory.
by Mike Rajkumar
