Five minutes after taking off on training sorties, two Air Force helicopters collided mid-air in Gujarat, leaving eight dead. ...
03:53 PM, Aug 30, 2012
New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed a contract with Swiss firm Pilatus for procurement of 75 Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) to train its rookie pilots and the delivery of these planes is scheduled between February 2013 to August 2012, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. "A contract for procurement of 75 Basic Trainer Aircraft was signed with Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Switzerland on May 24...The delivery of these...
05:14 PM, Aug 27, 2012
New Delhi: Addressing questions raised over the process of selecting Rafale fighter planes, Government is going ahead with the procurement of 126 French combat aircraft and effort is being made to complete the deal within this financial year. Contract negotiations for the multi-billion dollar deal will resume soon, Government sources said. Questions had been raised over the process by an MP besides some other quarters but a committee of independent...
05:43 AM, Aug 27, 2012
Balasore (Odisha): India's indigenously developed, micro-light pilotless target aircraft 'Lakshya-1' was successfully test flown from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore on Thursday. Lakshya-1, fitted with an advanced digitally controlled engine, was test flown from the launch complex-2 of the ITR at about 12.15 PM successfully, Defence sources said. The test was carried out to check the validity of its engine and duration enhancement, they said, adding that...
03:43 PM, Aug 23, 2012
New Delhi: 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. IAF is expected to soon award the contract for procuring six mid-air refuelling tanker planes for which Russian-origin Ilyushin-78 and European A-330 MRTT are in the race, sources told...
05:17 PM, Aug 20, 2012
New Delhi: The initial version of a fighter plane, being jointly developed by India and Russia and tipped to be one of the most-advanced in the world, will be unveiled in India in 2014. The Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) with stealth features is slated to be inducted in the Indian Air Force by 2022. The two sides are close to signing a key contract expected to be worth over...
05:38 AM, Aug 20, 2012
Pune: Air Chief NAK Browne on Saturday said the IAF has identified a "design flaw" with the Russian-made supersonic fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30 though nothing is wrong with its "airworthiness". "We have identified a Fly-By-Wire problem with the aircraft. It is a design issue and we have taken it up with the designing agency," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function held to mark Golden Jubilee celebrations of Armed...
08:46 PM, Aug 04, 2012
New Delhi: An Indian Air Force mountaineering team has scaled three newly opened peaks in Ladakh region with an aim to propose that they be named after IAF's three 'heroes', including Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh. IAF is now planning to approach Indian Mountaineering Federation (IMF) for naming these peaks after Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh, the sole Paramvir Chakra awardee in the force, Marshal of the Air Force...
09:04 PM, Jul 27, 2012
New Delhi: When Pranab Mukherjee takes over as the President on July 25, the IAF will activate its air defence (AD) shield in and around the capital to thwart any threat to the swearing-in ceremony of the supreme commander of the armed forces. The air defence network comprising IAF aircraft, man-held air defence missiles, OSA-AK and Pechora air defence missiles would be put in place to take out any possible...
11:14 PM, Jul 24, 2012
New Delhi: Even as the Indian Air Force continues to debate the seriousness of the leak of its weapons procurement programme, the Defence Ministry on Saturday said it had ordered a CBI probe into the matter. "We have referred it to the CBI... The CBI is enquiring the whole thing," said Defence Minister AK Antony. He added, "We are very serious about it." The top brass of the Indian Air...
02:32 PM, Jul 21, 2012
New Delhi: The US has accepted India's request for supplying six more C-130J special operations transport aircraft to the IAF and a communication in this regard was given to the Defence Ministry recently. India had sent a Letter of Request (LoR) to the US government in September last year for procuring six additional C-130J aircraft. The US government submitted a Letter of Acceptance on April 10 to the Indian Defence...
06:49 PM, Jul 20, 2012
Bangalore: The proposed second runway at the Bangalore International Airport (BIA) is likely to have an adverse impact on the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots training activities at its Yelahanka airbase here. The IAF and BIA operate in close proximity and the distance between their existing runways is around 5.3 nautical miles (NM), where 1 NM equals to 1.86 km. The proposed runway at the airport will bring them even...
11:56 AM, Jul 16, 2012
Guwahati: The Indian Air Force has evacuated over 400 flood-affected persons across Assam in the past 20 days as relief helicopters and transport planes are on round-the-clock standby. Air Commodore PE Patange of the Eastern Air Command said besides airlifting 400 marooned persons from various parts of the state, the IAF also airlifted dozens of tonnes of relief materials for distribition. Patange told reporters that a disaster management cell was...
02:32 PM, Jul 12, 2012
New Delhi: US aircraft engine maker Pratt and Whitney on Monday said it has delivered the first four F117 engines to Boeing to power strategic heavylift C-17 Globemaster III transport planes being manufactured for the Indian Air Force. India has signed a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal worth over $4.1 billion with the US government for procuring 10 C-17s. The delivery of the planes will start from next year. "Pratt...
01:09 AM, Jul 10, 2012
Balasore: India on Wednesday successfully test fired its indigenously developed surface-to-air 'Akash' missile of Air Force version from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore, the fifth trial of the anti-aircraft system in the last fortnight. "The Air Force version of Akash missile was test-fired from the ITR. The trial was successful and met all the mission objectives," a senior defence official said. The anti-aircraft missile, with a strike...
09:06 AM, Jun 06, 2012
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force's long pending requirement of basic trainer aircraft can now be met with the acquisition of 75 Pilatus planes starting late in 2012 under a Rs 2,800 crore deal signed on Thursday with the Swiss company. The aircraft will help the IAF to replace its fleet of HPT-32 basic trainer aircraft which have been grounded for over two years now after a fatal air crash...
07:16 PM, May 24, 2012
Balasore (Odisha): Boosting its air defence shield and re-validating operational efficacy, India on Thursday test-fired successfully its indigenously-developed surface-to-air Akash missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore. "The user-specific trial, which formed part of the country's routine air defence exercises, was successful," said a Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) official associated with the Akash missile project. To re-validate the technology and operational efficacy of...
12:32 PM, May 24, 2012
New Delhi: Adopting a 'carrot and stick' approach towards the 11-day Air India pilots' stir, government on Friday indicated it could take back all those sacked, barring the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) office-bearers, if they resumed duty, as it alerted the IAF to set up medical boards to check pilots who have reported 'sick'. After sending doctors to the homes of all pilots who have reported sick, the Civil Aviation...
08:16 PM, May 18, 2012
New Delhi: With the defence ministry dragging its feet on crucial purchases, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to lose its conventional edge over Pakistan for the first time since independence. The force's fighter strength is set to hit an all-time low of 31 in the next two years. The largest arms importer in the world with a defence spending of Rs 77,000 crore, India seems to have missed...
09:25 AM, May 13, 2012
