India is betting on the air force. indian air force indian air force

The Indians plan to turn the country into one of the most powerful and modern forces in the world with a network architecture of interaction. The Indian Air Force has prepared a comprehensive long-term program for the long-term development of LTPP (Long Term Perspective Plan) until 2027 with the aim of possible countering all predicted threats from the air. The government allocates appropriate funds for this.

Ambitious tasks are solved in the implementation of three main programs:
— purchases of new aircraft to upgrade the fleet;
— modernization of military equipment;
- full staffing of aviation units with personnel of the highest level and its continuous training.

At one time, Indian aviation magazine reported that the Indian Air Force planned to spend $ 70 billion on the purchase of new equipment and the modernization of its fleet from 2012 to 2021. And according to Pakistan Defense, Air Marshal Reddy, Director of the Inspection and Safety Commission, said in November 2013 at the opening of the 8th International Conference on Accelerating the Development of the Indian Aerospace Industry that in the coming 15 years, Indian The Air Force will spend $150 billion on defense purchases.

For many decades, the Indian Air Force was limited mainly to one source of supplies - the USSR / Russia. Most of the equipment purchased from us is now outdated. Today, the Indian military is alarmed by the decrease in the combat effectiveness of its fleet and a number of other indicators. Meanwhile, the long-term and fairly vigorous efforts of the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) and the local aerospace industry are not yet able to provide the Indian Air Force with the capabilities they are counting on.

The almost complete dependence on foreign suppliers of advanced technologies and advanced equipment is potentially the main factor that could threaten the combat capability of the national air force.

Purchases of new aircraft

The main task facing the Indian Air Force at the present time is the acquisition and integration of military platforms based on the latest technological principles and the modernization of military equipment. The list of weapons and military equipment (AME) to be purchased by the Air Force is impressive.

In the next decade, only fighter aircraft are planned to be put into operation 460 units. Among them are the Tejas light combat airctaft (LCA) (148 units), 126 French Rafal fighters that won the MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) tender, 144 FGFA (Fifth Generation) fifth-generation fighters Fighter Aircraft), which are planned to be received from 2017, an additional 42 Su-30MK2 multipurpose fighters, requirements have already been issued for their production for the local company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Also, the Air Force will be armed with 75 training aircraft (TCP) of basic training "Pilatus" (Pilatus), two more - early warning and control (AWACS and U) based on the Russian transport aircraft Il-76, ten military transport C -17 manufactured by Boeing, 80 medium-class helicopters, 22 attack helicopters, 12 VIP-class helicopters.

According to the Financial Express newspaper, in the near future, the Indian Air Force may sign the largest military contracts in the history of its military-technical cooperation with foreign countries for a total of $25 billion. The plans include a long-awaited deal for the supply of 126 fighters under the MMRCA combat aircraft program ($12 billion), a contract for the purchase of three C-130J aircraft for special operations forces, 22 attack helicopters AH-64 "Apache Longbow" (1.2 billion), 15 CH-47 Chinook heavy military transport helicopters ($1.4 billion), and six A330 MRTT tanker aircraft ($2 billion).

As Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal Brown said, five major deals worth $25 billion are close to signing in the current financial year (until March 2014).

As for missile weapons, the Indian Air Force has 18 launchers for medium-range MRSAM (Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missiles) anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAMs), four Spider installations for 49 short-range SRSAM missiles ( Short-Range Surface-to-Air Missiles) and eight launchers for Akash missiles (Aakash). The Air Force has developed a multi-stage plan for the introduction of missiles of different classes into service to create a multi-level defense system.

In addition, the Air Force has the capabilities of AWACS and U, and on the basis of an agreement between the governments of the United States and India, is negotiating with representatives of the American company Raytheon (Raytheon) on the purchase of two systems designed for intelligence, surveillance, detection and target designation (ISTAR) with a total cost of 350 million dollars. Analysts believe that Indian interest in such systems has increased after the end of the operation in Libya.

After delivery to the Indian Air Force, the ISTAR systems will be integrated with the existing Indian air command and control system IACCS (India's Air Command and Control System). It is based on a similar system of the NATO standard and allows you to control the movement of aircraft and coordinate it, control the performance of combat missions by aviation, and carry out reconnaissance activities. AWACS and U aircraft and radars for various purposes are integrated into IACCS, which allows the transfer of received data to the central command and control system.

According to representatives of the Ministry of Defense of India, the main difference between ISTAR and AWACS and U aircraft is that the first is designed to track ground targets and control troops on the battlefield, and the second is to target air targets and ensure air defense.

In terms of radar capabilities, the Air Force has in its arsenal the Rohinis radar, small balloon radars, which are a smaller version of AWACS and U aircraft systems and do not help in the detection of ground targets, medium-power radar, low-level tactical radar, network AFNET (Air Force Network) data transmission and the modernized airport infrastructure MAFI (Modernization of Airport Infrastructure), which is currently being formed.

Initially, the Bhatinda airfield (Rajasthan) will be equipped with the MAFI system. The first medium power radar in Nalia (Gujarat) began operation in 2013. In addition to these systems, the country's arsenal includes UAVs designed to perform reconnaissance missions, but their capabilities are limited.

Air fleet modernization

The air force fleet improvement program involves 63 MiG-29 fighters, 52 Mirage-2000s, and 125 Jaguars. Three of India's 69 MiG-29B/S fighter jets were upgraded in Russia under a $964 million contract signed in 2009. Three more aircraft arrived in India at the end of 2013.

The remaining 63 MiG-29 fighters will be upgraded at the HAL corporation's plant in Nasik and at the 11th Aircraft Repair Plant of the Indian Air Force in 2015-2016. These aircraft will be equipped with the new Klimov RD-33MK engines, the Zhuk-ME phased-array radar of the Fazotron-NIIR corporation, and Vympel R-77 air-to-air missiles to engage air targets behind line of sight range.

Upgrading the Mirage 2000 multirole fighters in service to the fifth-generation standard would cost 1.67 billion rupees ($30 million) per unit, more expensive than acquiring these aircraft. Minister of Defense Arakaparambil Kurian Anthony notified Parliament in March 2013.

In 2000, India purchased 52 Mirage-2000 fighter jets from France at a price of 1.33 billion rupees (about $24 million) per unit. During the modernization, the fighters will receive new radars, avionics, on-board computers and aiming systems. As expected, six aircraft will be brought to mind in France, and the rest - in India at the HAL enterprise.

Multipurpose fighter "Mirage-2000"

The contract to upgrade the Jaguars to the Darin III configuration, worth INR 31.1 billion, was signed in 2009. Work at the enterprises of the HAL corporation is planned to be completed in 2017. The first updated aircraft successfully completed a test flight on November 28, 2012.

The aircraft is equipped with new avionics and multi-mode radar. In the future, it will be remotorized, which will make the Jaguar all-weather, with high combat effectiveness, and will also significantly increase its working life.

To equip the fleet of modernized Jaguars, India has chosen advanced ASRAAM (Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile) medium-range missiles developed by the French company MBDA and intends to purchase 350-400 missiles of this type.

Honeywell recently applied to the Indian Ministry of Defense for 270 F125IN powerplants, developed by Sepecat and built at Indian HAL facilities, to upgrade the engines of 125 Jaguar fighters.

Training

An important aspect of the restructuring of the Indian Air Force is to increase the number of military personnel and their training in the operation of new equipment. The Air Force plans to increase the number of fighter squadrons to 40-42 by the end of the 14th five-year period (2022-2027) and possibly up to 45 units by the time the 15th period (2027-2032) is implemented. Currently, the Indian Air Force has 34 squadrons.

It is expected to achieve the highest combat readiness after the adoption of all fighters planned for serial licensed production - Su-30MKI, MMRCA, FGFA. Obviously, this will require an influx of a huge number of combat pilots, which is a very difficult problem.

Although the state of affairs in the field of flight personnel training has improved in recent years, the Indian Air Force is still far from the desired standards. Various measures are being taken to solve this problem, such as recruiting candidates and providing them with additional training before being awarded a rank in the Air Force. Much is being done to preserve the ranks of its pilots, in particular, training facilities are constantly being improved.

Over the past three fiscal years, the Air Force has received more defense procurement funds than the other two branches. This trend is likely to continue over the next few years.

However, the Air Force has managed to achieve and give the impression of a powerful force capable of protecting the sovereignty of the Indian airspace. It seems that in the long term, the Indian Air Force has no other choice but to acquire promising technologies and equipment from abroad. There is also the possibility of joint development and production, as well as offset programs that have been developing recently. This direction is the most expedient from the point of view of obtaining the status of a domestic product for military equipment.

The service life of modern aircraft is usually about 30 years. Then, as a rule, it is extended for another 10-15 years after modernization at the stage of average service life. Thus, the new equipment acquired by the Air Force will remain in service until 2050-2060. But since the nature of warfare also changes over time, in addition to acquiring modern weapons, a comprehensive reassessment of the plan of likely operations that the Air Force will have to face and reform its weapons accordingly is required.

To do this, at the present stage, the Air Force must take into account the status of India's regional power and assess its possible role and responsibility in the new geopolitical and geostrategic environment.

Pride of the Indian OPK

The total cost of purchasing Tejas aircraft was approximately $1.4 billion. The LCA program is a great achievement of the Indian defense industry and its pride. This is the first fully Indian combat aircraft. And although some analysts point out that the Tejas engines, radars and other on-board systems are of foreign origin, the Indian defense industry has been tasked with bringing the aircraft to full Indian production.

Indian Defense Minister Anthony announced on December 20, 2013 that the Tejas Mk.1 light fighter (Tejas Mark I) had reached initial operational readiness, that is, it was being transferred to the final tests by the Air Force pilots. According to him, the fighter will reach full operational readiness by the end of 2014, when it can be put into service.

Light fighter "Tejas"

“The Air Force will commission the first squadron of Tejas aircraft in 2015, and the second in 2017. Aircraft production will begin soon,” Anthony said, adding that each squadron will be based at Sulur Air Base near Coimbatore in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and will consist of 20 fighters designed to replace aging MiG-21s. In total, the needs of the Air Force for these aircraft are estimated at more than 200 units.

Tejas, implemented under the LCA program, is one of the record holders in terms of design work carried out by HAL and DRDO. Work on the creation of this completely Indian fighter began in 1983, he made his first flight in January 2001, and broke the supersonic barrier in August 2003.

At the same time, a new modification of the Tejas Mk.2 (Tejas Mark II) fighter is being developed with a more powerful and fuel-efficient engine manufactured by the American General Electric, improved radar and other systems. “Later, the Air Force will commission four squadrons of this fighter modification, and the Navy will adopt 40 Tejas carrier-based fighters,” said Indian Defense Minister Anthony.

India plans to completely replace the MiG-21 fighters by 2018-2019, but the process may be delayed until 2025.

Su-30MKI, Rafal, Globemaster-3

A contract worth $1.6 billion for the supply of technological kits for the licensed assembly production of the Su-30MKI by HAL Corporation was signed during Vladimir Putin's visit to India on December 24, 2012. After the implementation of this contract, the total number of aircraft produced at the facilities of HAL will reach 222 units, and the total cost of 272 fighters of this type purchased from Russia is $12 billion.

To date, India has adopted more than 170 Su-30MKI fighters out of 272 ordered from Russia. By 2017, 14 squadrons of these aircraft will be based at Indian air bases.

To date, HAL is already producing Su-30MKI and Tejas combat aircraft. In the future, the company will also produce the Rafale, which won the MMRCA tender, and the fifth-generation FGFA fighter jointly developed by Russia and India.

Su-30MKI Indian Air Force

India and France have been unable to agree on the terms of delivery of the Rafale fighter, which won the MMRCA tender in January 2012, for a year now. In October 2013, the Deputy Commander of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Sukumar, said that the agreement would be signed before the end of the current financial year ending in March 2014.

Under the terms of the competition, the winner will invest half of the amount paid for the aircraft in the production of fighters in India. About 110 Rafal aircraft are to be manufactured by HAL, while the first 18 are to be delivered directly by the supplier and delivered to the customer assembled. The amount of the transaction was originally estimated at $10 billion, but today, according to various sources, it may already exceed $20-30 billion. Initially, the first Rafale fighter of the Indian Air Force was planned to be put into service in 2016, now this date has been postponed to at least 2017.

In 2011, the Indian Ministry of Defense signed an agreement with the US government on the supply of 10 heavy strategic military transport aircraft (MTC) C-17 Globemaster-3 (Globemaster III) by the LOA method (Letter of Offer and Acceptance) in the amount of five billion dollars. At the moment, the Air Force received four C-17s: in June, July-August and October 2013. All aircraft will be delivered by 2015. Boeing promises to transfer the rest of the military-technical cooperation to the customer in 2014, having completed the implementation of the contract. By analogy with the C-130J tactical military transport aircraft, the Indian Air Force plans to increase the C-17 fleet by another 10 aircraft.

Educational and training equipment

Since August 2009, the Air Force has suspended a fleet of obsolete training aircraft (TCP) HPT-32 from flying. Subsequently, the Ministry of Defense announced a tender for the supply of basic flight training aircraft (Basic Trainer Aircraft - BTA) for the Indian Air Force, which was won by the Swiss company Pilatus (Pilatus).

In May 2012, the Security Committee of the Cabinet of the Government of India approved the purchase of 75 PC-7 Mk.2 (PC-7 Mark II) aircraft for the country's Air Force in the amount of 35 billion Indian rupees (more than 620 million dollars). From February to August 2013, the first three vehicles were handed over to the Indian Air Force. The Ministry of Defense is planning a new contract with Pilatus for the supply of 37 additional trainers.

Training aircraft "Hawk" (Hawk)

For advanced flight training, the Air Force is acquiring AJT (Advanced Jet Trainers) Hawks. In March 2004, the Indian government signed a contract with BAE Systems (BAE Systems) and Turbomeca (Turbomeca) for the supply of 24 Hawks, as well as with HAL for the production under license of another 42 TCBs. The total value of the contracts is $1.1 billion.

All the first 24 aircraft were completely built at the facilities of "BAe" and delivered to the Indian Air Force, another 28 of the 42 aircraft produced by HAL from ready-made vehicle kits were handed over to the customer before July 2011.

In July 2010, the Ministry of Defense signed a contract worth $779 million for the purchase of 57 additional Hawk trainers: 40 aircraft for the Air Force and 17 for the Indian Navy. HAL began their production in 2013 and should be completed by 2016.

Strategic Airlift

One of the main tasks of the Indian Air Force in the future will be to carry out strategic air transportation. But New Delhi's involvement in international security requires the gradual development of the air force towards a rapid reaction force, while at home the creation of a regular security force is on the agenda.

Considering India's recent status as a regional power, the country's growing role and responsibility in the new geopolitical and geostrategic environment, and renewed partnership with the United States, New Delhi could be required to deploy large numbers of troops to any region. Forces and means of strategic air transportation of the Air Force must be formed practically from scratch, since the service life of the corresponding fleet is ending.

At the tactical level, the Air Force must be provided with a fleet of medium-sized tactical military transport aircraft and helicopters capable, together with special forces, of quick response at a shorter range.

Clearly, India needs to expand its tanker fleet if it is to have significant troop and military equipment capabilities and influence in this segment.

The Air Force should also increase the combat capabilities of some equipment already in service. At the strategic level, the Air Force must be able to provide a credible nuclear deterrent to Pakistan and China. They also need to be able to have a military presence in regions of obvious national security interests and on the territory of allies with combat aircraft, tankers and strategic transport. To carry out strategic strikes against enemy territory, the Air Force must be armed with air missiles placed on platforms with powerful electronic warfare equipment. At the same time, tactical roles can be transferred to UAVs and helicopters.

These forces must be able to provide a quick response in a crisis situation and have logistical support in order to complete tasks over a long period of time.

To effectively ensure national security, the Air Force should acquire an additional fleet of AWACS and U aircraft in order to increase the possibility of observation at low altitudes. The air defense systems currently in service with the country must be replaced by a new generation of zonal and object air defense systems.

The Air Force should stock up on its own satellite systems and a fleet of UAVs with a wide range of sensors to provide round-the-clock and all-weather strategic and tactical intelligence. UAVs must be provided with an appropriate ground infrastructure for automated and rapid processing of intelligence information, as well as a fleet of tactical transport aircraft, helicopters and special forces for a quick response to possible threats.

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Indian Air Force(Hindi भारतीय वायु सेना ; Bhartiya Vāyu Senā) is one of the branches of the Indian Armed Forces. By the number of aircraft, they are in fourth place among the largest air forces in the world (after the USA, Russia and China).

The Indian Air Force was established on October 8, 1932, and the first squadron appeared in their composition on April 1, 1933. They played an important role in the fighting on the Burmese front during World War II. In the years 1945-1950, the Indian Air Force carried the prefix "royal". Indian Air Force took an active part in the wars with Pakistan, as well as in a number of smaller operations and conflicts.

In 2007, the Indian Air Force had more than 1,130 combat and 1,700 auxiliary aircraft and helicopters. A serious problem is the high accident rate. From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, the Indian Air Force lost an average of 23 aircraft and helicopters annually. The greatest number of flight accidents is accounted for by Indian-made Soviet MiG-21 fighters, which form the basis of the Indian Air Force fleet and have earned themselves a reputation as "flying coffins" and "widowmakers". From 1971 to April 2012, 482 MiGs (more than half of the 872 received) crashed.

The Indian air force is the fourth largest in the world after the United States, Russia and China. The date of creation of the Indian Air Force is October 8, 1932, when in Rusalpur, which is now in Pakistan, the British colonial administration began to form the first "national" RAF aviation squadron from among local pilots. The squadron was organized only six months later - April 1, 1933.

The Air Force of the Republic of India, which gained independence in 1947, was formed immediately after gaining sovereignty. From the first days, the Indian Air Force had to defend the interests of the country in bloody battles with Pakistan and China. From 1947 to 1971, three Indo-Pakistani wars took place, in which the aviation of the two newly created states was a direct participant.

The Indian Air Force is organizationally an integral part of the combined branch of the armed forces - the Air Force and Air Defense (Air Defense). The Air Force is led by the Chief of Staff. The Air Force headquarters consists of departments: operational, planning, combat training, intelligence, electronic warfare (EW), meteorological, financial and communications.

Five aviation commands are subordinated to the headquarters, which manage units in the field:

The Air Force has 38 aviation wing headquarters and 47 combat aviation squadrons.

India has a developed airfield network. The main military airfields are located near the cities: Udhampur, Leh, Jammu, Srinagar, Ambala, Adampur, Halwara, Chandigarh, Pathankot, Sirsa, Malaut, Delhi, Pune, Bhuj, Jodhpur, Baroda, Sulur, Tambaram, Jorhat, Tezpur, Hashimara, Bagdogra , Barrkpur, Agra, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Gwalior and Kalaikunda.

Data on equipment and armament of the Indian Air Force taken from the Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine page.

India maintains 40+ operational Earth imagery satellites in polar orbits.

English is the official language of the Indian Armed Forces. All military ranks exist only in English and are never translated into any of the Indian languages. The British military rank system is used in the Indian Armed Forces with little or no change.

Why India has so many weapons. Geopolitics (see at the end of the page).

India, along with the DPRK and Israel, is in the second three countries in the world in terms of military potential (the first three are Russia, the United States and China). The personnel of the Armed Forces (AF) of India has a high level of combat and moral-psychological training, although they are recruited. In India, as in Pakistan, due to the huge population and the difficult ethno-confessional situation, recruitment of the Armed Forces by conscription is not possible.

The country is the most important importer of arms from Russia, maintains close military-technical cooperation with France, Great Britain, Israel and the USA.However, cooperation with the United States in the military-technical sphere is sagging due to the reluctance of the Americans to share their technologies with India and the impossibility of exporting some interesting military products to India. Therefore, for a long time, Delhi preferred military-technical cooperation with Moscow (more on this at the end of the page).

At the same time, India has a huge military-industrial complex of its own, which is theoretically capable of producing weapons and equipment of all classes, including nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles. However, weapons models developed in India itself (the Arjun tank, the Tejas fighter, the Dhruv helicopter, etc.), as a rule, have very low technical and tactical characteristics, and their development has been going on for decades. The assembly quality of equipment under foreign licenses is often low, because of this, the Indian Air Force has the highest accident rate in the world. Nowhere in the world does military equipment represent such a "hodgepodge" of different types, different production, adjacent to a number of modern designs and frankly outdated models, as in India. Nevertheless, India has every reason to claim the title of one of the world-class superpowers in the 21st century.

Se composition of the armed forces of india

With Indian army troops are composed of the Training Command (headquarters in the city of Shimla) and six territorial commands - Central, Northern, Western, Southwestern, Southern, Eastern. At the same time, the 50th airborne brigade, 2 regiments of the Agni IRBM, 1 regiment of the Prithvi-1 OTR, 4 regiments of Brahmos cruise missiles are directly subordinate to the headquarters of the ground forces.

• Central Command includes one army corps (AK). It includes infantry, mountain, armored, artillery divisions, artillery, air defense, engineering brigades. Currently, the AK is temporarily transferred to the South-Western Command.
• Northern Command includes three army corps - 14th, 15th, 16th. They include 5 infantry and 2 mountain divisions, an artillery brigade.
• Western Command includes three AK - 2nd, 9th, 11th. They include 1 armored, 1 RRF, 6 infantry divisions, 4 armored, 1 mechanized, 1 engineering, 1 air defense brigade.
• Southwest Command includes an artillery division, the 1st AK, temporarily transferred from the Central Command, the 10th AK, which includes an infantry and 2 RRF divisions, an air defense brigade, an armored brigade, an engineering brigade.
• Southern Command includes an artillery division and two AK - 12th and 21st. They include 1 armored, 1 RRF, 3 infantry divisions, armored, mechanized, artillery, air defense, engineering brigades.
• Eastern Command includes an infantry division and three AK - 3rd, 4th, 33rd, three mountain divisions each.

ground forces owns most of India's nuclear missile potential. In two regiments there are 8 launchers of the Agni MRBM. In total, there are supposedly 80-100 Agni-1 missiles (flight range 1500 km), and 20-25 Agni-2 missiles (2-4 thousand km). In the only regiment of the OTR "Prithvi-1" (range 150 km) there are 12 launchers (PU) of this missile. All these ballistic missiles are developed in India itself and can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads. Each of the 4 regiments of Brahmos cruise missiles (jointly developed by Russia and India) has 4-6 batteries, each with 3-4 launchers. The total number of Brahmos GLCM launchers is 72. Brahmos is perhaps the most versatile missile in the world, it is also in service with the Air Force (its carrier is the Su-30 fighter-bomber) and the Indian Navy (many submarines and surface ships ).

The tank fleet of India is very powerful and modern. It includes 248 Arjun tanks of its own design, 1,654 of the latest Russian T-90s, of which 750 have been manufactured under a Russian license in recent years, and 2,414 Soviet T-72Ms that have been modernized in India. In addition, 715 old Soviet T-55s and up to 1,100 no less old Vijayanta tanks of our own production (English Vickers Mk1) are in storage.

Other armored vehicles Indian ground forces, unlike tanks, are mostly badly outdated. There are 255 Soviet BRDM-2s, 100 British Ferret armored vehicles, 700 Soviet BMP-1s and 1,100 BMP-2s (another 500 will be manufactured in India itself), 700 Czechoslovak armored personnel carriers OT-62 and OT-64, 165 South African Kasspir armored vehicles ", 80 English armored personnel carriers FV432. Of all the equipment listed, only the BMP-2 can be considered new, and very conditionally. In addition, 200 very old Soviet BTR-50s and 817 BTR-60s are in storage.

Indian artillery also outdated for the most part. There are 100 self-developed Catapult self-propelled guns (130-mm M-46 howitzer on the chassis of the Vijayanta tank; another 80 such self-propelled guns are in storage), 80 British Abbots (105 mm), 110 Soviet 2S1 (122 mm). Towed guns - more than 4.3 thousand in the army, more than 3 thousand in storage. Mortars - about 7 thousand. But there are no modern examples among them. MLRS - 150 Soviet BM-21 (122 mm), 80 own "Pinak" (214 mm), 62 Russian "Smerch" (300 mm). Of all the Indian artillery systems, only the Pinaka and Smerch MLRS can be considered modern.The armament consists of 250 Russian ATGM "Kornet", 13 self-propelled ATGM "Namika" (ATGM "Nag" of its own design on the chassis of the BMP-2). In addition, there are several thousand French ATGM "Milan", Soviet and Russian "Malyutka", "Competition", "Bassoon", "Storm".

Military air defense includes 45 batteries (180 launchers) of the Soviet Kvadrat air defense system, 80 Soviet Osa air defense systems, 400 Strela-1, 250 Strela-10, 18 Israeli Spider, 25 English Tigercat. Also in service are 620 Soviet MANPADS "Strela-2" and 2000 "Igla-1", 92 Russian ZRPK "Tunguska", 100 Soviet ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", 2720 anti-aircraft guns (800 Soviet ZU-23, 1920 Swedish L40/70). Of all the air defense equipment, only the Spider air defense system and the Tunguska air defense missile system are modern, while the Osa and Strela-10 air defense systems and the Igla-1 MANPADS can be considered relatively new.

Ground air defense includes 25 squadrons (at least 100 launchers) of the Soviet S-125 air defense system, at least 24 Osa air defense systems, 8 squadrons of their own Akash air defense system (64 launchers).

Army Aviation armed with about 300 helicopters, almost all of them - local production.The Indian Air Force includes the Commands: Western, Central, Southwestern, Eastern, Southern Training, MTO. ATThe Air Force has 3 squadrons of the Prithvi-2 OTR (18 launchers each) with a firing range of 250 km, can carry conventional and nuclear charges.

Attack aviation includes 107 Soviet MiG-27 bombers and 157 British Jaguar attack aircraft (114 IS, 11 IM, 32 combat training IT). All of these aircraft, built under license in India, are obsolete.

Fighter aviation is based on the latest Russian Su-30MKI, built under license in India. There are already 272 such aircraft in service. As mentioned above, they can carry the Brahmos cruise missile. 74 Russian MiG-29s (including 9 combat training UBs; another 1 in storage), 9 own Tejas and 48 French Mirage-2000s (38 N, 10 combat training TNs) are also quite modern. . Remains in service with 230 MiG-21 fighters (146 bis, 47 MF, 37 combat training U and UM), also built in India under a Soviet license. Instead of the MiG-21, it was supposed to purchase 126 French Rafale fighters, in addition, 144 FGFA 5th generation fighters will be built in India.

The Air Force has 5 AWACS aircraft (3 Russian A-50s, 2 Swedish ERJ-145s), 3 American Gulfstream-4 electronic reconnaissance aircraft, 6 Russian Il-78 tankers, about 300 transport aircraft (including 17 Russian Il-76, 5 newest American C-17s (there will be from 5 to 13 more) and 5 C-130J), about 250 training aircraft.The Air Force is armed with 30 combat helicopters (24 Russian Mi-35s, 4 own Rudras and 2 LCHs), 360 multipurpose and transport helicopters.

The Indian Navy includes three Commands - Western (Bombay), Southern (Cochin), Eastern (Vishakhapatnam).

There is 1 SSBN "Arihant" of its own construction with 12 K-15 SLBMs (range - 700 km), it is planned to build 3 more. However, due to the short range of missiles, these boats cannot be considered full-fledged SSBNs. The submarine "Chakra" (Russian submarine "Nerpa" project 971) is under leasing.There are 9 more Russian submarines of Project 877 in service (another such boat burned down and sank in its own base) and 4 German Project 209/1500. There are 9 newest French Scorpion-class submarines.The Indian Navy has 2 aircraft carriers: Viraat (former English Hermes) and Vikramaditya (former Soviet Admiral Gorshkov). Two own Vikrant-class aircraft carriers are being built.There are 9 destroyers: 5 of the Rajput type (Soviet project 61), 3 of our own Delhi type and 1 of the Kolkata type (another 2-3 Kolkata type destroyers will be built).There are 6 newest Russian-built frigates of the Talvar type (project 11356) and 3 even more modern own-built Shivalik-type frigates in service. Remain in service with 3 frigates of the Brahmaputra and Godavari types, built in India according to British designs.The Navy has the latest Kamorta corvette (there will be from 4 to 12), 4 Kora-type corvettes, 4 Khukri-type corvettes, 4 Abhay-type corvettes (Soviet project 1241P).In service are 12 missile boats of the "Veer" type (Soviet project 1241R).All destroyers, frigates and corvettes (except "Abhay") are armed with modern Russian and Russian-Indian SLCMs and anti-ship missiles "Brahmos", "Caliber", Kh-35.

There are up to 150 patrol ships and patrol boats in the ranks of the Navy and the Coast Guard. Among them are 6 ships of the Sakanya type, which can carry the Prithvi-3 BR (range 350 km). These are the only surface warships in the world with ballistic missiles.The Indian Navy has an extremely small mine-sweeping force. They include only 7 Soviet minesweepers of project 266M.

The landing forces include DVKD "Dzhalashva" (American type "Austin"), 5 old Polish TDK pr. 773 (another 3 in the crap), 5 own TDK of the "Magar" type. At the same time, India does not have a marine corps, there is only a group of naval special forces.

In service with naval aviation there are 63 carrier-based fighters - 45 MiG-29K (including 8 combat training MiG-29KUB), 18 Harriers (14 FRS, 4 T). The MiG-29Ks are intended for the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier and the Vikrant and Harriers under construction for the Viraata.Anti-submarine aircraft - 5 old Soviet Il-38 and 7 Tu-142M (1 more in storage), 3 newest American P-8I (to be 12).There are 52 German Do-228 patrol aircraft, 37 transport aircraft, 12 HJT-16 training aircraft.The naval aviation also has 12 Russian Ka-31 AWACS helicopters, 41 anti-submarine helicopters (18 Soviet Ka-28 and 5 Ka-25, 18 British Sea King Mk42V), about 100 multi-purpose and transport helicopters.

In general, the Indian Armed Forces have a huge combat potential and are significantly superior to the potential of their traditional adversary, Pakistan. However, now the main enemy of India is China, whose allies are the same Pakistan, as well as Myanmar and Bangladesh, which border India from the east. This makes the geopolitical position of India very difficult, and its military potential, paradoxically, insufficient.

Cooperation with Russia

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2000-2014, Russia provided up to 75% of India's weapons. As of 2019, Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation is still exclusive. It's not even that India has been one of the largest buyers of Russian weapons for several years. For many years, Moscow and Delhi have been engaged in the joint development of weapons, and unique ones, such as the Brahmos missile or the FGFA fighter. The leasing of nuclear submarines has no analogues in world practice (only the USSR had a similar experience with India in the late 80s). There are now more T-90 tanks, Su-30 fighters, X-35 anti-ship missiles in the Indian Armed Forces than in all other countries of the world combined, including Russia itself.

At the same time, alas, not everything is rosy in relations between Russia and India. In the near future, Moscow's share in the Indian arms market may decline from 51.8% to 33.9% due to Delhi's desire to diversify suppliers. With the growth of opportunities and ambitions, Indian demands are also growing rapidly. Hence the scandals in the field of military-technical cooperation, most of which Russia is to blame itself. The epic with the sale of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya stands out against this background.However, it must be admitted that such scandals in Delhi arise not only with Moscow. In particular, during the execution of both major Indian-French contracts (for the Scorpen submarine and for the Rafal fighters), the same thing happens as with Vikramaditya - a multiple increase in the price of products and a significant delay by the French in terms of their manufacture. In the case of the Rafals, this led to the termination of the contract.

Why does India need so many weapons? Geopolitics

India is an ideal ally of Russia. There are no contradictions, on the contrary, there are great traditions of cooperation in the past and today. We have common main opponents - Islamic terrorism and the dictates of the Anglo-Saxon world.

But India has two more enemies - China and Pakistan. And all this, through the efforts of England, which, leaving the colonies, always left "embers in the fire." Russia is just trying to build good relations with all states, forgetting about conflicts in the past. This has been characteristic of the Russian state for centuries. India, on the other hand, does not at all want to forgive the insults of the past, let alone forget them. At the same time, it is interesting that Beijing remains Delhi's largest trading partner with a trade turnover of almost$ 90 billion in 2017-2018, which is more than the US and China.

India's main adversary is Pakistan, with which there have been contradictions since the formation of two states in 1947. The second adversary is China. And the worst-case scenario for India is an alliance between Pakistan and China in military-political cooperation. So, after the February events in Kashmir between India and Pakistan in 2019, the Pakistani army received one hundred SD-10A air-to-air missiles from China. PThe United Kingdom also maintains close economic ties with Pakistan, implementing a number of joint economic projects. Some of them directly affect the interests of India. For example, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which connects the territory of the PRC with the Pakistani port of Gwadar, passes through Gilgit-Baltistan, a disputed territory of India and Pakistan in Kashmir. Delhi has no leverage over the CPEC.

Moreover, in 2017, Pakistan leased a 152-hectare site to China Overseas Port Holding in the commercial port of Gwadar. For China, this is an opportunity to establish a base for a fleet in the Arabian Sea, which shatters the Indian dream of becoming the dominant maritime power in the Indian Ocean.

If we add to this contradictions with China in matters of security in Afghanistan, mutual missile build-up, disputes over the nuclear status of India and long-standing territorial contradictions (Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh), it becomes clear why some of the principles of “panch” no longer work between countries. shila" (peaceful coexistence).

India is confident that China is gradually surrounding the country with a chain of military bases or military infrastructure, including the mentioned port in Pakistan and another port in Sri Lanka, military facilities in the Himalayas, as well as railways in pro-Chinese Nepal. The active penetration of the Chinese into neighboring Bangladesh and Myanmar also causes a feeling of blockade in India.

In the summer of 2017, the tension between the countries reached its limit. In June, China sent military engineers to build a highway on the Doklam Plateau, the crossroads of Indian-Chinese-Bhutanese territorial claims. The plateau is of strategic importance for India, as it opens up access to the Siliguri corridor, which connects the main part of the country's territory with the seven northeastern states. Delhi even sent troops to the territory of Bhutan, as a result, the "strange war" ended with the return of the status quo.

Against this background, BRICS looks like a strange formation in which Moscow is trying to reconcile the two largest powers in the world in terms of population and economic potential. Delhi does not need an alliance with Beijing. After all, China is not only the main geopolitical adversary, but also an economic competitor. India needs an alliance against Beijing. It is in this format that she would be happy to be friends with Moscow, but Russia does not agree to cool relations with China, for the sake of India, and this is reasonable.

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By the number of aircraft, they are in fourth place among the largest air forces of the countries of the world (after the USA, Russia and China).
The British Indian Armed Forces were established on October 8, 1932. During the Second World War, they participated in the battles with the Japanese on the Burmese front. In 1947, India gained independence from Great Britain. Because of the unfair drawing of borders, clashes immediately broke out between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, which led to the death of more than half a million people. In 1947-1949, 1965, 1971, 1984 and 1999, India fought with Pakistan, in 1962 - with the People's Republic of China. The unsettled borders are forcing the state on the Hindustan Peninsula with a population of 1.22 billion people to spend huge amounts of money on the maintenance of the armed forces. In 2014, about 40 billion US dollars were allocated for these purposes.
Indian Air Force structure

Indian Air Force Aerobatic Team SURYA KIRAN Surya Kiran, which translates to our sun rays

The Indian Air Force (more than 150 thousand people) is organizationally an integral part of the combined branch of the armed forces - the Air Force and Air Defense (Air Defense). The Air Force is led by the Chief of Staff. The Air Force headquarters consists of departments: operational, planning, combat training, intelligence, electronic warfare (EW), meteorological, financial and communications.
Five aviation commands are subordinated to the headquarters, which manage units in the field:

1. Central (Allahabad city),
2. Western (Delhi),
3. Eastern (Shillong),
4. South (Trivandrum),
5. Southwestern (Gandhinagar), as well as educational (Bangalore).

The Air Force has 38 aviation wing headquarters and 47 combat aviation squadrons. India has a developed airfield network. The main military airfields are located near the cities: Udhampur, Leh, Jammu, Srinagar, Ambala, Adampur, Halwara, Chandigarh, Pathankot, Sirsa, Malaut, Delhi, Pune, Bhuj, Jodhpur, Baroda, Sulur, Tambaram, Jorhat, Tezpur, Hashimara, Bagdogra , Barrkpur, Agra, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Gwalior and Kalaikunda.

An-32 military transport multi-purpose aircraft of the Indian Air Force

Currently, the Air Force of the republic is in the process of reorganization: the number of aircraft is decreasing, old aircraft and helicopters are gradually being replaced by new or modernized models, flight training of pilots is improving, piston training are being replaced by new jets.

Trainer trainer "Kiran" of the Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force is armed with 774 combat and 295 auxiliary aircraft. Fighter-bomber aviation includes 367 aircraft, consolidated into 18 squadrons:

• one -
• three - MiG-23
• four - "Jaguar"
• six - MiG-27 (most of the MiG-27 Indians plan to decommission by 2015)
• four - MiG-21.

The fighter aviation has 368 aircraft in 20 squadrons:

• 14 MiG-21 squadrons (120 MiG-21s intend to operate until 2019)
• one - MiG-23MF and UM
• three - MiG-29
• two - ""
• eight squadrons of Su-30MK aircraft.

In reconnaissance aviation, there is one squadron of Canberra aircraft (eight aircraft) and one MiG-25R (six aircraft), as well as two MiG-25U, Boeing-707 and Boeing-737 each.

The EW aviation includes: three American Gulfstream IIIs, four Canberra aircraft, four HS-748 helicopters, three Russian-made AWACS A-50EI aircraft.

Il-38SD-ATES Indian Air Force and Navy

Transport aviation is armed with 212 aircraft, combined into 13 squadrons: six squadrons of Ukrainian An-32 (105 aircraft), two Do 228, BAe 748 and Il-76 (17 aircraft), as well as two Boeing-737-200 aircraft , seven BAe-748s and five American C-130J Super Hercules.
In addition, the aviation units are armed with 28 VAe-748 aircraft, 120 Kiran-1, 56 Kiran-2, 38 Hunter (20 R-56,18 T-66), 14 Jaguar, nine MiG-29UB, 44 Polish TS-11 Iskra, 88 NRT-32 trainers and an administrative heavy-duty Boeing-737-700 BBJ.

Helicopter aviation includes 36 attack helicopters, combined into three squadrons of the Mi-25 (export version of the Mi-24) and Mi-35, as well as 159 transport and transport-combat helicopters Mi-8, Mi-17, Mi-26 and Chitak (Indian licensed version of the French Alouette III), consolidated into eleven squadrons.

Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force. 2010

The main problem of the Indian Air Force is the extremely high accident rate caused by the depreciation of equipment, the high intensity of flights and the insufficient qualifications of new pilots. The majority of flight accidents occur in old Soviet MiG-21 fighters of Indian production. So from 1971 to 2012, 382 MiGs of this series crashed. But in India, Western-made planes are also falling.
Indian Air Force reorganization program

The Indian Air Force plans to introduce 460 units of newly built combat aircraft in the next 10 years, including:

• own production of light fighters LCA (light combat airctaft) "Tejas" (148 units) to replace the old MiG-21,
• French Rafali (126 units),
• 144 FGFA 5th generation fighters (created under an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and India)
• and an additional 42 Russian Su-ZOMKIs (after the implementation of this program, the total number of Su-ZOMKIs will reach 272 units).
• In addition, the Air Force purchased six Airbus A300 MRTT tanker aircraft assembled in Europe (in addition to the six Russian Il-78 MKI already available), ten American Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft and other models of various aircraft and helicopters of various countries of the world.