the indian air force (iaf) is the air arm of the indian armed forces.its primary mission is to secure indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts.it was officially established on 8 october 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the british empire which honoured india's aviation service during world war ii with the prefix royal.after india gained independence from united kingdom in 1947, the name royal indian air force was kept and served in the name of the dominion of india.with the transition to a republic in 1950, the prefix royal was removed.since 1950, the iaf has been involved in four wars with neighbouring pakistan.other major operations undertaken by the iaf include operation vijay, operation meghdoot, operation cactus and operation poomalai.the iaf's mission expands beyond engagement with hostile forces, with the iaf participating in united nations peacekeeping missions.the president of india holds the rank of supreme commander of the iaf.as of 1 july 2017, 170,576 personnel are in service with the indian air force.the chief of the air staff, an air chief marshal, is a four-star officer and is responsible for the bulk of operational command of the air force.there is never more than one serving acm at any given time in the iaf.the rank of marshal of the air force has been conferred by the president of india on one occasion in history, to arjan singh.on 26 january 2002, singh became the first and so far, only five-star rank officer of the iaf.it decrees that in the aerial battlespace:  defence of india and every part there of including preparation for defence and all such acts as may be conducive in times of war to its prosecution and after its termination to effective demobilisation. the primary objective of iaf is to defend the nation and its airspace against air threats in coordination with army and navy. the secondary purpose is to assist civil power during natural calamities and internal disturbances. the iaf provides close air support to the indian army troops in the battlefield and also provides strategic and tactical airlift capabilities. iaf also provides strategic air lift or secondary airlift for the indian army. the iaf also operates the integrated space cell together with the other two branches of the indian armed forces, the department of space and the indian space research organization (isro). rescue of civilians during natural disasters  evacuation of indian nationals from foreign countries in case of instability or other problems in practice, this is taken as a directive meaning the iaf bears the responsibility of safeguarding indian airspace and thus furthering national interests in conjunction with the other branches of the armed forces.the iaf provides close air support to the indian army troops on the battlefield as well as strategic and tactical airlift capabilities.the integrated space cell is operated by the indian armed forces, the civilian department of space, and the indian space research organisation.by uniting the civilian run space exploration organisations and the military faculty under a single integrated space cell the military is able to efficiently benefit from innovation in the civilian sector of space exploration, and the civilian departments benefit as well.the indian air force, with highly trained crews, pilots, and access to modern military assets provides india with the capacity to provide rapid response evacuation, search-and-rescue (sar) operations, and delivery of relief supplies to affected areas via cargo aircraft.the iaf provided extensive assistance to relief operations during natural calamities such as the gujarat cyclone in 1998, the tsunami in 2004, and north india floods in 2013.
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