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Chandigarh: In a move aimed at sustaining the operational capability of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) legacy Anglo-French SEPECAT Jaguar fleet, India is set to receive nine retired examples of the twin-engine combat aircraft from the United Kingdom imminently for use as a source of spare parts and sub-assemblies. This follows the IAF’s continuing efforts to keep the world’s last Jaguar fleet airborne, decades after the fighter had been retired by all other users.

While the IAF declined to comment on the matter, industry sources and several media outlets, including the Indian Defence Research Wing (IDRW), reported earlier this week that three former Royal Air Force (RAF) Jaguars, “meticulously wrapped in white protective coverings”, were seen positioned at a British port awaiting shipment to India. The defence website further reported and official sources confirmed that these were part of a larger consignment of nine decommissioned RAF Jaguars, along with over 150 categories of spares and components intended for the IAF. However, details of the deal are not known.

But once in India, these former RAF fighters will be cannibalised to support the IAF’s six ageing Jaguar squadrons, comprising around 120 aircraft. Developed in the late 1960s and inducted into IAF service from 1979 onwards, the Jaguar continues to equip squadrons at Ambala, Gorakhpur and Jamnagar in its three IS, IB and IM variants, with the latter base operating the maritime strike (IM) type.

The latest consignment of retired Jaguars marks the second such acquisition since 2018, as the IAF continues to source airframes, spares, and sub-assemblies from former operators to extend the operational life of this fighter fleet. Earlier batches came from France, Oman and the UK, all of which had withdrawn the fighter from active service in 2005, 2014 and 2007, respectively and put them on display in museums.

On that occasion, France had transferred 31 retired Jaguar airframes to the IAF free of cost, while Oman provided two additional aircraft, along with eight Rolls-Royce Adour Mk 811 engines and around 3,500 lines of spares. The UK, for its part, supplied two twin-seat Jaguar airframes and 619 lines of rotables, capable of being restored to a fully serviceable condition, for around $400,000. The task of dismantling the aircraft, recovering usable components and transporting them to India, however, was undertaken by technicians from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which had licence-produced Jaguars since the early 1980s, the cost of which was borne by the........

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