Indian air power in 2026: too few squadrons, too many programmes

Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit assumed command as the 29th Chief of the Air Staff on 31 October 2026, inheriting what his predecessor had called the Indian Air Force's most pressing crisis: a shrinking combat fleet. The Air Force operates just 29 fighter squadrons against a government-sanctioned strength of 42.5, and former Chief Air Chief Marshal A. P. Singh had warned that the service must induct 36 to 40 new fighter jets every year just to stabilise and rebuild its numbers. The shortfall is the product of retirements outpacing inductions over two decades, and it frames every procurement decision India makes.

The indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas illustrates both the achievement and the bottleneck. The Tejas programme marked 25 years of flight operations in January 2026, with its first flight in 2001, and the aircraft is now inducted in two squadrons, with Mk-1A inductions set to expand the footprint. But deliveries of the Mk-1A have slipped badly: a February 2021 contract for 83 jets worth 48,000 crore rupees envisaged first handovers in early 2024, yet a nearly two-year delay in supply of F404 engines from America's GE Aerospace, alongside software integration hurdles, pushed the timeline back, with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited reportedly aiming to deliver only 10 airframes by March 2027 and a further order for 97 more jets in the pipeline.

Two larger programmes are meant to close the gap. The 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft programme, estimated at about 3.25 lakh crore rupees, received its Acceptance of Necessity from the Defence Acquisition Council in February 2026, with reports suggesting New Delhi hopes to finalise the agreement by March 2027 amid complex price negotiations, offsets and domestic manufacturing discussions. The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, India's indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter, moved into a more industrial phase in 2026, with the Defence Ministry inviting bids for five flying prototypes and a structural test specimen under an approved envelope of about 15,000 crore rupees; current reporting points to a prototype rollout around 2028, and on 14 August 2026 Reliance Industries and Rolls-Royce announced strategic intent to jointly develop a sovereign combat engine for the programme.

The year's showcase of Indian air power was Exercise Tarang Shakti 2026, the Air Force's multinational exercise held from 26 September to 12 October 2026 at Jodhpur under the theme Power in Partnership, with seven friendly foreign countries deploying frontline assets — including American F-35A fighters — and delegations from over thirty nations. The exercise demonstrated interoperability, but it also underlined the paradox: India can host fifth-generation aircraft from abroad while its own fifth-generation fighter remains years from first flight, and its squadron strength remains far below sanction.