IAF in Indian Colours : Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team

IAF : A Brief Introduction

Well as i have mentioned in the Title intro, this is not going to be one of those website comprising of IAF database. This is a collection of experiences of IAF fighter pilots, which general public never come to know through out their life. But even to start with the stories a brief introduction of IAF structure is necessary. So here it is:

Any Air Force comprises of a variety of elements which include flying elements and ground elements. Flying elements mainly comprise of Aircrafts but also have other things like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs), Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles(UCAVs), Drones, Decoys and even some Guide Missiles. Ground Element Comprises of a variety of Radars, Ground Defence Equipment like Surface to Air Missiles(SAM) etc. To run these elements a huge force of skilled personnel is required. And these Men and Material collectively are called Air Force and are responsible for safeguarding our skies. Indian Air Force is no different and has a plethora of state of art weapon systems and aircrafts. Most of the Aircraft in IAF's inventory are Nuclear Capable.

Main objective of Air Force is to safeguard our skies. In case of war Air Force also has a task of supporting Army in its Operations alongwith safeguarding own skies. For this again A,ir Force has a bundle of most accurate weapon systems on ground and onboard aircrafts and UAVs. In peacetime scenario, Primary task of Air Force is to keep an eye on borders, train for the War like situation and support Civil Operations as required. Here i'll like you to make a note thatmaintaining a Air Force and training it rigorously doesn't mean that the nation is preparing for war. It is actually done to prevent a War. Because if we have a strong Air Force, neighbours will think twice before waging a war against us.

All the Operations of Air force are controlled centrally by Air Headquarters at New Delhi headed by Chief of Army Staff( CAS). For ease of control, the country has been further divided in five Operational Commands and two Functional Commands. These all details can be found at IAF Website. Under a Operational Command, there are number Air Force Stations, which in turn have Smaller Units known as Squadrons. This is the place where all the flying takes place and from where most of my stories Originate. So you'll hear it more often from now on.

A Squadron is headed by Commanding Officer, an officer of the rank of Wing Commander. A Wing Commader is equivalent to a Lieutenant Colonel in Army. for ease of readers here is a list of all the Officer Ranks in Air Force and their equivalent in Army:

Air Chief Marshal : General
Air Marshal : Lieutenant General
Air Vice Marshal : Major General
Air Commodore : Brigadier
Group Captain : Colonel
Wing Commander : Lieutenant Colonel
Squadron Leader : Major
Flight Lieutenant : Captain
Flying Officer : Lieutenant

Under a Wing Commader there are other pilots , Engineering Officers and Technical Staff of varying seniority and qualifications. To support a flying squadron, there is a Air Traffic Control Unit, a Radar Unit and other Administration Units.

Every Station has an Officers' Mess where bachelor officers stay and dine. Every Officers Mess compulsorily has a BAR, which is again very important element in quite a few stories. Married Officers Stay in houses which are seperate from mess and need to cook their own meals.

I think thats enough introduction to start with the actual content of the blog. Come Back to read the thrilling, exciting, slightly funny experiences of our heroes. Do put in some comments ... As it will motivate me for next post. You are also free to clear your doubts. Just click on comment tab and ask your doubt. I'll get back to you as quickly as possible.
Enjoy...