On April 2, 2025, the Indian Air Force (IAF) lost another Jaguar fighter jet in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The vintage Jaguar circa 1979 cost a young pilot his life, whereas the other surviving pilot is hospitalized. The father of the deceased pilot expressed pride in his son’s sacrifice, but in reality, his son was flying a 45-year-old jet on a night training mission. This cannot be termed routine training in a professional and well-equipped air force.
This is the fourth fighter jet of the IAF to crash in 2025. Given that two IAF jets crashed on the same day in March 2025, the IAF pilots are needlessly and tragically losing their lives. From 2016 to 2019, 27 IAF aircraft crashed. In 2019 the IAF lost 11 planes and 20 pilots lost their lives. The lost jets included Russian Migs, French Mirages, British-French Jaguars and the Russian Su 30. The IAF has lost 500 of the 872 Mig 21 jets it had acquired since the 1960s, which resulted in 200 pilots losing their lives. This earned the Mig 21 the nickname of “flying coffins.” Newer jets do not fare any better either. Eight Russian Su 30 jets were lost in 2019 alone due to choking engines. India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) assembles the Su 30 in India under license from the JSC Sukhoi Company of Russia.
India routinely creates hoopla about its economy and the resulting wealth, yet it seems to assign very little value to the lives of its Air Force pilots and its Air Force per se.
A 2021 IAF audit stated that 34 crashes in the five-year period from 2017 to 2022 – of which 11 happened in one year – were due to maintenance issues. India has lost 1,000 planes in crashes since 1947.
The IAF ordered 123 Tejas – India’s homegrown fighter jet – but HAL has only delivered a few so far and none is fully operational. The IAF’s strategic calculus requires 42 squadrons but it only operates 29 of its existing 31 squadrons, which too mostly consist of flying coffins. The long overdue decommissioning of old fighter jets, will leave the IAF with just 2 squadrons of the French Rafales.
The PAF has a stellar global reputation as an air force, and hence when it chooses to showcase the JF17 in air shows in Dubai, Bahrain, Paris and Saudi Arabia.
Acquiring military technology and assets is the job of the prime minister and Modi has failed his Air Force. However, riding on the wave created by social media, Modi is above reproach. The Indian Air Chief, frustrated by this situation, was forced to express his dissatisfaction with HAL to the media in February 2025. A month later the Indian Air Chief took to social media to discuss the needs of the IAF. This unconventional move is not in line with protocol and the IAF’s chief’s hand was clearly forced by the inaction of the political leadership.
The IAF chief’s Youtube session made light of the fact that India had launched a successful space mission but had failed to deliver fighter jets. The fact is that indigenous space rocket missions have a low budget with little room for corruption and kickbacks. This is why the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) succeeded but HAL failed. Both institutions were established by PM Nehru.
While the IAF languishes in a weakened and vulnerable state, India’s private sector has risen to the occasion. In October 2024 The Indian PM and the Spanish PM jointly inaugurated the Tata Advanced Systems Limited’s (TASL) new C-295 aircraft manufacturing facility in Vadodara, Gujarat. The facility will deliver a complete production lifecycle, from component manufacturing to assembly, testing, and final delivery, with a future potential to support maintenance and upgrade services. Other than the aero-engine and avionics, the other structural parts will mostly be made in India.
India was offered jet engine technology through General Electric (GE) by POTUS Biden in 2023. In my June 23, 2023 column I had stated in detail how India is being wooed by the US with this technological bounty to counter BRICS. Far from availing the golden opportunity, or even remaining neutral and non-aligned, Modi’s duplicitous double game with both the US and Russia, ruined India’s relations with both.
Tata’s C295 is a first in creating an Indian aviation ecosystem. However, the elite takeover of the Indian corporate sector, coupled with the prevalence of corruption and nepotism in the Indian political leadership, raises concerns about a controversial military industrial complex in India, similar to the US.
Pakistan Air Force on the other hand, efficiently runs the Kamra Aeronautical Complex (KAC), which refurbishes old Mirages and manufactures the JF17 fighter jets. After the JF17’s February 2019 downing of the IAF’s Mig 21 and Su 30 jets, the indigenous Pakistani fighter jet globally emerged as a powerhouse. In a world where the US and NATO apply stringent conditions for selling fighter jets, and many countries are looking to replace old Soviet era relics in their air forces, there is a great demand for the latest fighter jets from a neutral country.
The PAF has a stellar global reputation as an air force, and hence when it chooses to showcase the JF17 in air shows in Dubai, Bahrain, Paris and Saudi Arabia, it also boosts the image of Chinese aviation technology, when the jet goes head to head with western fighter jets. Pakistan has sold JF17 jets to Azerbaijan, Myanmar, Nigeria and Iraq. Additionally, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Iran and Argentina have expressed interest in acquiring the jet. These fighter jet sales are new technology based relationships, where the buyer country establishes an aviation eco system based on Pakistani technology. The PAF has thus made us proud.
The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist. She can be reached at [email protected]