Indian Military Aviation and The French Connection

NEW DELHI. Indian Air Force's (IAF) transition from the Mirage 2000 to Rafale was from one dream machine to another. In the initial training for Test Pilots, one is taught to assess an aircraft's characteristics by just looking at it.

- AIR MARSHAL ANIL CHOPRA (RETD)

And one look at the wing-body blending, the shape of the intakes, the twist in the wing, the incline of fuselage, the size of the vertical stabilizer, the base of the wheels, all indicate some design features. For centuries, the French have been associated with finer things of life the cu ne, fashion, and their language was adopted by the kings and the courts, among many others. They have done well also in aviation.

After the WW II, aviation designer Marcel Dassault re-established the aviation industry.

The M.D.450 (Marcel Dassault) Ouragan was the first French-designed jet fighter-bomber to enter production. The Ouragan was later operated by France, Israel, India and El Salvador. In June 1953, India ordered 71 Ouragans (Toofani). Finally 104 were bought.

IAF started to replace the Ouragan by the Mystère IVA in 1957. Toofanis were withdrawn fully from front line service in 1965, although they continued to be in use for some years as advanced trainer and for Target Towing.

India procured 104 "supersonic-in-a-dive" Mystere. These aircraft were used extensively in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. On 7 September 1965, an Indian Mystere, piloted by Squadron Leader Devayya shot down a Pakistani Lockheed F-104 Starfighter in a raid over Sargodha.

Mystère IVs were also very successful in surface strikes. The aircraft were phased out by 1973.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) license-built versions of French Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama (designated Cheetah) and Aérospatiale Alouette III (designated Chetak) helicopters in mid-1960s. The Indian Navy procured 14 French Bréguet Br. 1050 Alizé aircraft in 1960 for carrier-borne operations.