News Highlights:
- According to an Indian Air Force (IAF) representative, Indian Air Force will have 35 -36 combat squadrons by the mid-2030s.
- The sanctioned strength of fighter squadrons is 42. Reaching 42 squadrons would take time; the immediate effort was to arrest the drawdown in strength.
India’s fighter squadrons:
- Dwindling strength:
- The IAF is currently down to 31 fighter squadrons as against the sanctioned strength of 42, which is set to dwindle further as the remaining three MiG-21 squadrons are phased out in 2025.
- Phasing out:
- Additionally, several frontline aircraft in the inventory, including the Jaguars and MIG-29s, will begin phasing out by the end of the decade.
- For instance, by 2027-28, the first of the MIG-29s, inducted in the late 1980s, will start going out.
- By the decade’s end, phasing out of other aircraft would also begin.
- News squadrons:
- In the last few years, the IAF has inducted two squadrons of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and two squadrons of Rafale fighter jets procured from France, pushing the squadron strength to 32.
- In January 2021, the IAF signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 83 LCA MK-1A, which it will start receiving from early 2024 onwards. Along with that, the to-be-acquired 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) will help arrest the drawdown.
- A larger LCA-MK2 and the fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) are under development. However, their availability in enough numbers will take some time.
- Steps being undertaken:
- The 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk1A that would begin coming in from next year, followed by the LCA-Mk2 and fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) in the near future, along with the MRFA, would arrest this.
- There is also a twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF) on the drawing board for the Navy’s aircraft carriers.
Status of the MIG-21 jets in the IAF:
- About MIG-21 jets:
- The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 21 is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union.
- MiG is a product of the Soviet Union which entered into service in 1959.
- Approximately 60 countries on four continents have flown the MiG-21, and it still serves many nations six decades after its maiden flight.
- India inducted the MiG-21 in 1963 and got full technology transfer and rights to license-build the aircraft in the country.
- Russia stopped producing the aircraft in 1985, while India continued operating the upgraded variants.
- Current status:
- Over the last ten years, 108 air accidents and losses have occurred involving all military arms – IAF, Navy, Army, and Coast Guard.
- Out of these, 21 crashes have involved the Mig-21 Bison and its variants, though the IAF flies mostly the former now.
- The high rate of accidents earned the aircraft the nickname ‘Flying Coffin”.
- Currently, there are four MIG-21 squadrons in service consisting of the upgraded Bison variant.
- IAF officials have stated that technical life is still left in them.
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Content Source: The Hindu