Indian Air Force

The **Indian Air Force** is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Air forceThe President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of the Air Force Staff (CAS). Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts.

Since 1950, the IAF has been involved in 5 wars but also participates regularly in United Nations peace keeping missions.

The Indian Air Force has around 170,000 personnel and around 1700 aircraft making it the 4th largest air force in the world in terms of aircraft. The motto of the Indian Air Force is _nabhah sprsham diptam_ ('touch the sky with glory').The motto has been taken from the Sacred Bhagavad Gita,Chapter 11,Verse 24.

## Infobox (military unit)

- **unit name**: Indian Air Force
- **image**: Badge of the Indian Air Force.png
- **image size**: 215
- **caption**: Badge of the Royal Air Force#Related badges, Badge of the Indian Air Force
- **type**: Air force
- **role**: Aerial warfare
- **size**: 135,000 active personnel
 100,000 reserve personnel
 Approx List of active Indian military aircraft#Air Force, 1926+ aircraft
- **garrison**: Secretariat Building, New Delhi, Integrated Defence Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (India), Ministry of Defence, New Delhi
- **garrison label**: Headquarters
- **motto**: <small>(ISO 15919, ISO)</small>
  (Taken from Bhagavad Gita)
- **anniversaries**: 8 October (Air Force Day)
- **commander1**: President of India, President Droupadi Murmu
- **commander1 label**: Commander-in-chief#India, Commander-in-Chief
- **commander2**: Air chief marshal (India), Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh
- **commander2 label**: Chief of the Air Staff (India), Chief of the Air Staff (CAS)
- **commander3**: Air marshal (India), Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari
- **commander3 label**: Vice Chief of the Air Staff (India), Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS)
- **commander4**: Air marshal (India), Air Marshal Tejinder Singh
- **commander4 label**: Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (India), Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS)
- **identification symbol**:
- **identification symbol label**: Military aircraft insignia, Roundel
- **identification symbol 2**:
- **identification symbol 3**:
- **identification symbol 4**:
- **identification symbol 2 label**: Fin flash
- **identification symbol 3 label**: Royal Air Force Ensign#Related ensigns, Flag
- **identification symbol 4 label**: President's Colour Award, President's Colour
- **aircraft attack**: SEPECAT Jaguar, Jaguar, IAI Eitan, Eitan, IAI Harop, Harop
- **aircraft electronic**: EL/W-2090, A-50E/I, DRDO AEW&CS
- **aircraft fighter**: Su-30MKI, Rafale, HAL Tejas, Tejas, MiG-29, Mirage 2000, MiG-21
- **aircraft helicopter**: Boeing CH-47 Chinook, CH-47 Chinook, HAL Dhruv, Dhruv, HAL Chetak, Chetak, HAL Cheetah, Cheetah, Mil Mi-8, Mi-8, Mil Mi-17, Mi-17, Mi-26
- **aircraft helicopter attack**: HAL Prachand, Prachand, Boeing AH-64 Apache, Apache AH-64E, Mil Mi-24, Mi-25/35, HAL Rudra, Rudra
- **aircraft interceptor**: MiG 21
- **aircraft recon**: IAI Searcher, Searcher II, IAI Heron, Heron
- **aircraft trainer**: BAE Hawk, Hawk Mk 132, HAL Kiran, HJT-16 Kiran, Pilatus PC-7, Pilatus C-7 Mk II
- **aircraft transport**: C-130J, C-17 Globemaster III, Boeing CH-47 Chinook, CH-47F (I) Chinook, Il-76, An-32, HS 748, Do 228, EADS CASA C-295,  Boeing 737, Embraer ERJ 145 family, ERJ 135, Boeing 777
- **aircraft tanker**: Il-78, Il-78 MKI
- **native name**: भारतीय वायुसेना