In the last couple of weeks, the Chinese forces have brought in heavy air superiority aircraft like the Sukhoi-30 and its strategic bombers to the rear locations which have been detected flying near the Indian territory maintaining the 10 km plus distance from the boundary.
"The contract for the detailed design would be signed soon and that will be a major milestone. It should be signed in the second half of the year," a top official involved in the negotiations with Russia on the project said.
The single seater combat plane, developed on the basis of Su-30MKI, will be lighter and cheaper than Su-30, Sukhoi Aircraft Corporation chief Mikhail Pogosyan said.
The situation that developed in eastern Ladakh last year required acclimatisation of a large number of IAF personnel and stretching of equipment to limits, but the force is "much better prepared" now in case there is a "long haul", Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said on Thursday.
A Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft on Tuesday crashed at Laokhowa in Nagaon district of Assam with both the pilot and co-pilot ejecting safely.
The defence minister will spend about 30 to 45 minutes on board the IAF's frontline SU-30MKI.
Here are highlights of the 68th Republic Day parade.
The air force has moved its critical frontline assets including the Sukhoi-30MKI, Mirage 2000 and Jaguar fighter aircraft fleet to advanced positions where they can fly in at a very short notice to carry out operations.
The delay stems from the IAF's wish to make the Su-30MKI the high-performance fighter that it eventually turned out to be. Ajai Shukla reports
Strengthening India's presence over the Indian Ocean region, Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday inaugurated the first fighter aircraft base here in southern India where the IAF is stationing its most lethal Su-30MKI combat aircraft.
India displayed its military might and vibrant cultural heritage on Rajpath on Wednesday with the grandest flypast with 75 aircraft to mark the 'Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav' celebrations being the highlight of the 73rd Republic Day Parade, which was drastically scaled down in view of the Covid pandemic.
Flight Lieutenant Srikant Sharma said that getting into the armed forces was a dream come true and this opportunity is an "icing on the cake".
'We should have seen these signals and reacted earlier.' 'We miss out on a certain strategic advantage by arriving late on the scene.'
Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said the recent induction of Rafale jets along with previous acquisitions of C-17 Globemaster aircraft as well as Chinook and Apache helicopters have provided the IAF with substantial tactical and strategic capability enhancement.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has voiced his concern at Dassault's reported reluctance to meet the terms of the IAF tender, which required the French company to guarantee the 108 fighters that HAL would build in India, after the first 18 were supplied fully-built in France.
IAF conducts the air show, Srinagar and the government is part of the ongoing 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations
Boosting their military ties, India on Monday inked deals worth around $3 billion with Russia to procure 42 new Su-30 MKI combat aircraft and 71 Mi-17V5 medium-lift helicopters.
A smaller variant of the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is being developed for the Indian Air Force. A new version of the missile is to be fitted on the frontline aircraft of the air force including Su-30MKI, Mirage 2000 and the future inductions such as the 126 multi-role combat aircraft, BrahMos officials said on Tuesday.
Here's a recap of the events from the past 48 hours.
Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is also an Honorary Lt Col in the Territorial Army, on Tuesday, chose to give the organisation's annual parade in New Delhi a miss.
After the success of Agni-V project, India is developing an Anti-Radiation Missile which can hugely multiply the strike capabilities by destroying the enemy's advance warning system.
Russia will provide an additional 42 Sukhoi frontline fighters to India under an agreement signed on Friday, taking the bilateral defence cooperation to new heights.
India is moving towards joining the club of few countries having air-launched cruise missiles with a proposal to equip IAF's frontline fighter aircraft Su-30 MKI with BrahMos.
The grandeur and might of the various types of aircraft in the Indian Air Force were on full display on the occasion of the 88th Air Force Day celebrations on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the previous governments in Uttar Pradesh of letting poverty and the mafia take over the state's eastern part, saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party government is now writing a new chapter of development there.
The Air Force is planning to deploy six mid-air refuelling tanker aircraft at Panagarh air base in West Bengal, a step that will boost the striking range of its fighter planes like Su-30 MKIs based along the China border.
The attorney general admitted that there is no sovereign guarantee, but asserted that there is a letter of comfort by France which would be as good as a governmental guarantee.
With a combination of both physical and virtual exhibition, the 13th edition of the biennial international event at Air Force Station Yelahanka will be the world's first hybrid aerospace show.
The Indian Air Force's on Friday conducted day-night demonstration of its combat and fire power in Pokhran, which was witnessed by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A MiG-29 fighter aircraft crashed into a mountain during a night flying exercise near Lahaul- Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and the fate of the pilot is not known.
The makes of these fighter planes were MiGs, Su-30 MKI and Jaguar. Six pilots were killed in these crashes. This includes 2 MiG-21 aircrafts that crashed during take off.
Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne has taken over as the 23rd Chief of the Air Staff from Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, who retires after 42 years of illustrious service.
The fighter jet conducted Eklavya formation by flying at a height of around 300 meter along with two Jagaur and two MIG-29 aircraft. The five jets resembled a V shape with Rafale leading the pack.
Indian Air Force's frontline Su-30 MKI fighter jets and Eurofighter Typhoons of the Royal Air Force on Wednesday began 17 days of war games codenamed Ex-Indradhanush at the Kalaikunda airbase in West Bengal.
The identity of the missing pilots has not been disclosed and the worst is feared.
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.
Showcasing its precision strike capabilities during day and night, Indian Air Force on Sunday carried out a massive fire power blitzkrieg using its frontline aircraft such as SU-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, MIG 27 and MIG 29, at the Pokhran ranges in Rajasthan.
A land-attack version of the missile was test-launched from Launch Pad-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR). An air force variant was fired from an IAF fighter jet over Bay of Bengal.
'Rafales can play an important role in doing DEAD (Destruction of Enemy Air Defence) on the Surface-to-Air Missiles that the Chinese have put on Tibet'
The fleet landed at Al Dhafra airbase on Monday in the United Arab Emirates after flying for over seven hours from the Merignac airbase. It was the only stopover by the jets while flying from France to India.
