Indian Airforce Yearly Review 2021 Defence Current Affairs And Updates [Download PDF]

INDIAN AIR FORCE YEARLY REVIEW 2021 Modernisation Induction of LCA (Tejas), Arudhra and Aslesha Radars, Astra Air to Air missile, Akash Surface to Air missile system, Advance Light Helicopter, and...

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January 8, 2022
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INDIAN AIR FORCE YEARLY REVIEW 2021

Modernisation

Induction of LCA (Tejas), Arudhra and Aslesha Radars, Astra Air to Air missile, Akash Surface to Air missile system, Advance Light Helicopter, and Light Combat Helicopter are a testimony of IAF’s commitment to this vision. These systems were added to IAF’s inventory.
The year 2021 saw the total number of Rafale aircraft go up to 30. 19 Low-Level Transportable Radars (LTTR) have also been supplied to IAF wherein BEL benefitted through the Transfer of Technology (ToT) as well.

New Airbus transport aircraft to replace IAF’s Avro planes

The Cabinet Committee on Security approved the procurement of 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force to replace its ageing Avro planes which were first inducted around 60 years ago.
16 aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by the Airbus Defence and Space of Spain within 48 months of signing the contract while the remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India, according to the defence ministry.
The cost of the procurement is expected to be in the range of ₹18,000 to ₹20,000 crores, people familiar with the project said.
The 40 planes will be manufactured in India by a consortium of the Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) within 10 years of signing the contract.

Emergency Landing Facilities (ELFs)

The year 2021 witnessed the inauguration ceremonies of two new ETFs. The first was along NH-925A (Gandhav-Bhakasar stretch, Rajasthan) which was inaugurated by the Raksha Mantri on 09 Sep 21.
On 16 Nov 21 successful landings were executed by Mirage-2000, C-130J, and An-32 aircraft at ELF Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister, Chief of Defence Staff, and Chief of Air Staff were onboarding the C-130J aircraft which landed on the ELF as part of the inauguration ceremony.

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief

Afghanistan Evacuation Operations

IAF was called upon to evacuate Indians and some other nationals from Afghanistan. Evacuation activities were undertaken, first from Kandahar, then Mazar-e-Sharif & finally from Kabul.
IAF deployed its C-17 and C-130J aircraft for the evacuation. A C-17 each was utilised for evacuation from Kandahar (10 Jul 21) and Mazar-e-Sharif (10 Aug 21). In addition, five aircraft (four C-17s and one C-130J) were utilised between 15 and 28 Aug 21 to rescue 132 Govt officials, 316 Indian citizens & 126 persons of other nationalities.

Covid Related HADR Operations

42 Heavy and medium airlift assets which included C-17, IL-76 and C-130Js were used for these operations. 3757 hrs were flown, airlifting 15306 Tons of COVID related medical equipment and supplies.

Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari Takes Over As The Chief Of The Air Staff

Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari PVSM AVSM VM ADC took over as The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) at a ceremony at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan).
An alumnus of NDA, the CAS was commissioned in Dec 82 in the fighter stream of the IAF. He has flown more than 3800 hours on multiple fighters and trainer aircraft.

Air Force Day Parade 2021 At Hindon Air Force Station

The parade on the occasion of Air Force Day commenced at Hindon Air Base in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad. The air display started with flag bearing skydivers of the famous AKASH GANGA Team dropping out of AN-32 aircraft in their colourful canopies.
The IAF was established on October 8, 1932, in undivided India which was under colonial rule. It was given the prefix “Royal” by King George VI for its contribution during the Second World War. The prefix was later dropped in 1950 when India became a republic.

Exercises with Foreign IAF

Ex Zapad-21

A bi-service Indo-Russian exercise took place at Chakalovasky, Russia on Sep 21. IAF participated with one IL-76 aircraft.

Ex Peace Mission

On Sep 21, an IL-76 aircraft of IAF participated in an SCO exercise named Peace Mission-21.

Ex Blue Flag and Ex with Egyptian Air Force

Three IL-78 aircraft along with five Mirage 2000 aircraft took part in multilateral exercise ‘Blue Flag’ in Israel during Oct 21. On their return journey, these IAF aircraft participated in an exercise with the Egyptian Air Force.

Ex Yudh Abhyas 21

A C-17 aircraft of IAF participated in bilateral engagements with PACAF after induction of IA troops at Alaska, USA.

Joint Exercise Desert Knight-21

Indian Air Force (IAF) and French Air and Space Force will conduct a bilateral Air exercise, Ex Desert Knight-21 at Air Force Station Jodhpur from 20 to 24th Jan 2021.

Konkan Shakti 2021

The maiden India-UK Joint Tri-Service exercise Konkan Shakti held between October 21 and 27 off the west coast of India and aims to derive “mutual benefits” from each other’s experiences.
The harbour phase conducted in Mumbai from October 21 to 23, while at sea, the exercises be conducted from October 24 to 27.

IAF formally inducts Rafale jets into 101 squadrons of Eastern Air Command

The 101 Squadron is the second IAF squadron to be equipped with the Rafale fighter jets. In September last year, the Rafale aircraft were inducted into the 17 “Golden Arrows” Squadron.

Revamped Official Website

The Indian Air Force launched a revamped website ‘indianairforce.nic.in’ with better visual effects and enhanced content and contemporary graphics. The website was designed and developed with in-house resources.

IAF Contribution Towards Efficient Use of Indian Air Space

The IAF & Ministry of Civil Aviation have jointly formed a mechanism for efficient use of airspace. To achieve this, airspace management cells at National and regional levels have been created to facilitate transit through restricted airspaces.
This has resulted in reduced flying time for civil aircraft accruing savings for the airlines and reduction of carbon footprints. The Airspace Management Cells are jointly manned by IAF and Airports Authority of India personnel.

IAF Contribution Towards Efficient Use of Indian Air Space

Along with the airspace, IAF has also been actively engaged with MoCA for sharing its airports for supporting the increased demands of civil aviation. Accordingly, 39 out of 53 IAF airfields and 08 Advanced Landing Grounds in the North-eastern region have been opened for joint use to accommodate civil scheduled flights. This also includes flight operations under Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN).

Aero India Show 2021

Asia’s largest military aviation exhibition ‘Aero India Show – 2021’ was held at Bengaluru from 04-05 Feb 21 by Department of Defence Production, MoD. The 13th edition of the Aero India show began at Bengaluru’s Yelahanka Air Force Station on Tuesday. The three-day show will be held from February 3 to 5.
The event was inaugurated by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Air version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

Air version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired from the supersonic fighter aircraft Sukhoi 30 MK-I on 08 December 2021. BrahMos is a Joint Venture between India (DRDO) and Russia (NPOM) for the development, production & marketing of the supersonic cruise missile.
The launch is a major milestone in the BrahMos development. It clears the system for the serial production of air-version BrahMos missiles within the country.

Successful Maiden Flight Test of Akash Prime Missile

A new version of the Akash Missile – ‘Akash Prime’ has been successfully flight tested from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, Odisha on 27 September 2021.
In comparison to the existing Akash System, Akash Prime is equipped with an indigenous active Radio Frequency (RF) seeker for improved accuracy.

First Smart Anti Airfield Weapon Successfully Test Fired from Hawk-I Aircraft

In a big boost to the indigenous Hawk-i program, HAL today successfully test-fired a Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from the Hawk-i aircraft off the coast of Odisha. The indigenous stand-off weapon developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), DRDO is the first smart weapon fired from an Indian Hawk-Mk132.

DRDO Conducts Maiden Trial of Python-5 Air To Air Missile From LCA Tejas

Tejas, India’s indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, added the 5th generation Python-5 Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) in its air-to-air weapons capability on April 27, 2021. Trials were also aimed to validate the enhanced capability of already integrated Derby Beyond Visual Range (BVR) AAM on Tejas.
Chaff is a critical defence technology used to protect fighter aircraft from hostile radar threats. The importance of this technology lies in the fact that a very less quantity of chaff material deployed in the air acts as a decoy to deflect enemy’s missiles for ensuring the safety of the fighter aircraft.

IAF Builds One Of World’s Highest Mobile ATC Towers In Ladakh

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed one of the world’s highest mobile air traffic control (ATC) towers at the Advanced Landing Ground here to control fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter operations along the Line of Actual Control.
The ATC, which is one of the world’s highest, controls the operations of the fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters operating in the eastern Ladakh region, Group Captain Ajay Rathi of the Air Force told the news agency.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

___ is the only Chief of Air Staff to be given the rank of Marshall of the Indian Air Force?
O.P. Mehra
Subroto Mukherjee
Arjan Singh
None of the above

ANSWER: C

Which of the following aircraft is the air-to-air refueller of the Indian Air Force?
IIyushin – 78
C – 130J Hercules
IIyushin – 76
C – 17 Globemaster

ANSWER: A

The Chief of IAF at the time of Indo-Pak war of 1971?
Field Marshall SHFJ Manekshaw
Pratap Chandra Lal
C General KS Thimayya
D General PP Kumaramangalam

ANSWER: B

Headquarters of Southwestern Air Command located?
Pune
Gandhinagar
Jodhpur
Vadodara

ANSWER: B

Hq. of IAF is located at___
Mumbai
Chennai
New Delhi
Gurugram

ANSWER: C

Current Vice Chief of the Air Staff is___
Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari
Air Marshal Sandeep Singh
Air Marshal Prashant Bharadwaj
Air Marshal Vibhas Pande

ANSWER: B

_____is the Supreme Commander of all Indian armed forces.
CDS
Prime Minister
The President
Defence Minister

ANSWER: C

Central Air Command is located at
Gandhinagar, Gujarat
Shillong, Meghalaya
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh

ANSWER: D

Ex Desert Knight 2021Exercise between India and___
USA
China
Russia
France

ANSWER: D

The Garud commandos are the special forces of the__
IAF
Indian Navy
Indian Army
BSF

ANSWER: A

Which of the following aircraft is the air-to-air refueller of the Indian Air Force?
IIyushin – 78
C – 130J Hercules
IIyushin – 76
C – 17 Globemaster

ANSWER: A

Exercise Desert Flag –VI conducted at
Jaipur, India
Berlin, Germany
Alaska, U.S.A
Al Dhafra, UAE

ANSWER: D

The highest rank attainable in the IAF is__
Commodore
Air chief marshal
Marshal of the Indian Air Force
Air vice-marshal

ANSWER: C

The first sportsperson & the first civilian to be awarded the honorary rank of group captain by the IAF
Sachin Tendulkar
Kapil Dev
Saurav Ganguly
Virat Kohli

ANSWER: A