ABSTRACT
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the fourth largest in the world with 150,000 personnel and some 1,500 aircraft. With India emerging economically as a great power, the IAF is now engaged in a large-scale modernisation programme. As part of this, the IAF has recently published its latest air power doctrine, a document that reflects both the air force’s current capabilities and its future aspirations. It holds that Indian air power is the product of both its doctrine and its capability; equipment does not in itself produce air power; rather, it is how it is used that is important (Layton 2013: 20-22).
