Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the Modi government and Anil Ambani over the Rafale issue, saying that in order to bag India's biggest defence contracts one has to be a "defaulter of Rs 45,000 crore" and have "no relevant experience".
As part of a massive rescue operation, three C-17 Globemaster aircraft of Indian Air Force have clocked nearly 150 flying hours in the last few days bringing back over 1,300 Indians from Djibouti after their evacuation from strife-torn Yemen.
Sneha Shekhawat is the 1st woman officer to lead a marching contingent twice on R-Day.
Sources said a high-level team of the Indian Air Force is already in Paris to coordinate with the French officials on the handing over ceremony.
It was indeed a poignant moment to see an uniformed Arjan Singh rising out of his wheelchair and using a walking stick to march up to President APJ Abdul Kalam's coffin
A bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna issued notice on the petition by the former wing commander, who was posted as engineering officer at the relevant time, and granted the Centre six weeks to file its response.
The weather and other conditions are at the moment looking good and it is expected to reach the Ambala air base on time.
The 125 Helicopter Squadron (Gladiators) since its formation in November 1983 has enhanced its operational capability over the years and earned accolades for its valour and strike capabilities when deployed internally as well as abroad.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
Singh said in a statement in the Lok Sabha that all efforts were being made to save IAF Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, who was on life support at the military hospital in Wellington.
'The Indian Air Force wanted to fight. My squadron leaders and flight lieutenants, all of us were eager to fight. Unless they are keen I can't have confidence.' Marshal of the Air Force, the legendary Arjan Singh, on the 1965 War.
'Rafale is much more advanced and lethal than the current fighter aircraft available with China. The timing of the arrival of the jets is perfect'
'Anglo-Indians have played a significant role at the forefront, meeting every challenge to the security of the motherland.' A fascinating excerpt from Barry O'Brien's The Anglo-Indians: A Portrait of a Community.
The IAF's mainstream fighter aircraft, the Sukhoi-30MKI and Jaguar, are set to square off with their American counterparts to execute some of the most realistic manoeuvres of its kind during Exercise Red Flag over Alaska starting April 28. Here's what you need to know.
'We were against politicisation of the defence acquisition process. It was a question of capability of the air force'
The officer was involved in a dog fight with Pakistani fighter aircraft and was awarded a Shaurya Chakra for taking down an F-16 combat aircraft during the engagement.
Anshu Kumar, 21, son of government school teachers from a village in Bihar, won the President's Silver Medal at the NDA. He commanded the grand passing out parade and will go on to join the Indian Navy.
The IAF has been maintaining that the Rafale jets would significantly enhance its combat capability.
'You are to train three Bangladeshi pilots to fly this Chetak helicopter. Your task begins now.'
MiG-27 ML had proved its worth in various operations, including in Kargil and earned rich accolades in numerous international exercises held in India.
'As the IAF kicks off another round of myth-making -- launching a year-long commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1965 India-Pakistan war -- it is worth remembering how little there was to celebrate in those September days when the underdog PAF got the better of the IAF in raid after raid, dogfight after dogfight.'
The Indian Air Force has 31 fighter squadrons as against authorised strength of 42 squadrons.
While Jodhpur airbase will soon have a squadron of transport helicopters Mi-17 V5, medium power radars would also be deployed at Jaisalmer airbase, Air Marshal Anjan Kumar Gogoi, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South-Western Air command, said at a press conference in Jodhpur.
After five months of a rigorous training, the Agniveervayus passed out of the Airmen Training School, impressing the audience with the skills they had acquired in just 22 weeks of training at the IAF base.
Of late, war films -- particularly those that tell stories of the 1971 War and Kargil -- have been produced.
'Since each chief single-mindedly pursues his service's interests in the competition for turf and in core matters such as budget share. The CDS, therefore, must act as an "honest broker" whose decisions serve the broader national purpose, rather than narrow service interests,' says Ajai Shukla.
The Indian Air Force is operating with "much less" aircraft than its authorised strength of 42 combat squadrons and in case of any further delay in the proposed 126 fighter jet deal, the force levels in the service will "go down rapidly", its chief NAK Browne said on Friday.
Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa is a Kargil war veteran and top rated fighter pilot with over 3,000 hours of flying experience.
'We flew all missions in the first part of the war at low levels; that is at 300 to 500 feet above the ground.' 'These sorties were no doubt stressful since the pilots and crew had to look out for birds and obstructions as well as enemy gunfire.'
Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja was tortured and killed after his MiG-21 was shot down and he ejected across the Line of Control during the Kargil War.
'It would be a travesty if the Malaysian air force likes the Tejas, but decides against it because it sees the IAF reluctance to back the fighter.'
Less than a fortnight after the alleged suicide by a woman Squadron Leader of the Indian Air Force in Jodhpur, another IAF officer was found hanging in his room on Sunday.
29-year-old squadron leader Anandita Das, hailing from Kolkata, was posted at the Jodhpur Air Force Station and living in the officers' quarters with her husband, who is also an IAF officer.
"Though falling squadron strength is a cause of worry," Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command Air Marshal P S Ahluwalia said that IAF had the resources and platforms to get the better of any threat from the western sector.
The IAF faces a 'fighter gap' of 13 squadrons. The IAF would be caught seriously short in a two-front war -- the worst-case planning contingency in which China and Pakistan attack India simultaneously, points out Ajai Shukla.
Police had registered a case and booked the officer on charges of abetment to suicide.
A third batch of three more Rafale fighter jets on Wednesday landed in India from France after a non-stop flight, in a further boost to the strike capability of the Indian Air Force.
Five Rafale fighter aircraft arrived in India from France on July 29 and have started extensive training within 24 hours of touching down in the country. The French-origin fighter aircraft are part of the 17 Golden Arrows squadron of the Indian Air Force.
When the IAF veterans' bail petition came up for hearing, in an unprecedented move, senior serving and retired Air Marshals and Air Vice Marshals rallied behind the accused officers and appeared before the court to give sureties for each, something that has never happened ever before.
India's frontline combat aircraft Sukhoi-30 fleet was on Friday cleared for flying after being grounded for nearly a month following a crash near Pune.
