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The primary role of the fighter aircraft in the Indian Air Force inventory is to achieve and maintain air supremacy over the battle field. Air superiority fighters are fast and maneuverable aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with limited capability to strike ground targets. Multi-role aircraft on the other hand are capable of conducting air-to air combat and ground attack with equal ease; sometimes within the same mission. This ability of combining different operational tasks offers considerable cost-of-ownership benefits to the operators.[100]
The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is the IAF's primary air superiority fighter with the capability to conduct strike missions. The IAF have placed an order for a total of 272 Su-30MKIs[101] of which 146 are in service as of 2011.[102]
The Mikoyan MiG-29 known as Baaz (Hindi for Hawk) is the IAF's dedicated air superiority fighter and forms the second line of defence for the IAF after the Sukhoi Su-30MKI. The IAF operates 68 MiG-29s, all of which are currently being upgraded to the MiG-29UPG standard.[103]
The Dassault Mirage 2000, known as Vajra (Sanskrit for Thunderbolt) in Indian service, is the IAF's primary multirole fighter. The IAF currently operates 51 Mirage 2000Hs which are currently being upgraded to the Mirage 2000-5 standard. The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 serves as an Interceptor aircraft in the IAF. The IAF have phased out most of its MiG-21s and plans to keep only 125 that have been upgraded to MiG-21 Bison standard.[106] These aircraft will be phased out between 2014 and 2017.[107] The MiG-21s are planned to be replaced by the indigenously built HAL Tejas
Strike, attack and close support aircraft
These are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground. They are often deployed as close air support for, and in proximity to, their own ground forces, requiring precision strikes from these aircraft. The SEPECAT Jaguar known as Shamsher and the Mikoyan MiG-27 known as Bahadur (Hindi for Valiant) serve as the IAF's primary ground attack force.
