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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

World Air Forces Directory - 2014 [Free Download]

Annual compendium of country-wise fleet strength of active, war-fighting aerial assets.

As it has been doing each year, for the past many years, the UK-based Aviation publication 'Flight International' has released its handy reference list of what the military & paramilitary forces of each country would likely fly in 2014, including possible aircraft & helicopter contracts that could be signed. Contains an overview of trends in military aviation observed over the past year & forecast for 2014.

Unsurprisingly, it has observed that the Asia-Pacific region reported the largest modernisation & fleet expansion, percentagewise, commensurate with the economic growth reported by countries there, with,

"a 5% year-on-year increase in the Asia-Pacific fleet can be attributed in part to India’s major and ongoing armed forces investment"

Helped, no doubt, by the induction of the C-130J, the C-17 & the Pilatus trainers, & other modernisation plans currently underway. The late realisation, or affordability, of operating force-multipliers like aerial refuellers comes across quite starkly, when one compares that even Singapore, presently, operates a larger fleet than the Indian Air Force [IAF]. The expected induction of Airbus' A330 tanker should help address the lacunae in IAF's arsenals.

Being a free offering, you need to fill in a few basic info, before you're lead to the download URL.

This is what it has enumerated of India's aerial fleet. Clicky.

Indian-Air-Force-Fleet-Strength-R

Godspeed

Also Read: Sarang & Surya Kiran - Indian Air Force's [IAF] Aerial Demonstration Teams