Indian Air Force acquires 9 retired RAF Jaguars

Indian Air Force acquires 9 retired RAF Jaguars

India has been importing retired British, French and Omani Jaguars along with separate parts for the past few years to supply spare parts for its existing vehicles.

The Indian Air Force (IAF), the sole operator of the Anglo-French SEPECAT Jaguar attack aircraft, has acquired nine decommissioned Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft since the beginning of this year, a UK parliamentary procedure said on July 3, 2026. January 1, 2026.

Pollard puts the figure at nine, specifying that five GR1 variants and four twin-seat T2 trainers are included. The variants used in India are developed from the GR1, also known as the Jaguar S, and the T2, also known as the Jaguar B.

This development follows reports in December 2025 that New Delhi plans to keep the fleet flying by purchasing spare parts from 20 to 24 ex-Omani jets while considering retired Nigerian and Ecuadorian aircraft. An image on Reddit from June shared by user ‘MindCorrupt’ shows three wingless Jaguars with protective covers in an unidentified port in the UK, and the thread says the aircraft are headed to India.

Queries sent to Indian Defense Ministry and IAF spokesperson Jaideep Singh did not elicit a response at the time of writing.

France and the UK retired Jaguars in 2005 and 2007, respectively. However, with the retirement of the MiG-21, the delay of the LCA Tejas Mk1A due to delayed delivery of GE F404-IN20 engines, the launch of the new Rafales still several years away, no plans for Su-30MKI engine upgrades and the fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) reportedly still in the design phase, India will have to operate these older fighters to avoid a performance gap.

Notably, IAF Jaguars, along with the Su-30MKI, trained alongside British F-35Bs as part of a mock carrier attack on HMS Prince of Wales during last year’s Konkan exercises.

Transfers of retired Jaguars

The UK kept a total of 51 retired Jaguars in storage before transferring nine aircraft to India. Pollard gave a brief overview of the retired Jaguar fleet currently remaining in the country. “Of the 42 Jaguar aircraft still in the Ministry of Defense’s fleet, 13 are GR1 variants and none are T2 variants.”

Pollard’s response did not specify the makeup of the remaining 29 airframes that were not covered by the scope of the question. The balance of surviving vehicles is expected to consist of a mix of upgraded GR3 single-seaters and T4 two-seaters.

Meanwhile, Oman’s efforts were communicated through the 13th Joint Military Cooperation Committee meeting on November 24, 2025. Procurement from the Gulf countries is also what IAF officers specifically describe as “Christmas tree” purchases. Instead of purchasing the entire airframe, you are purchasing only selected spare parts and parts. Almost two dozen of them are available.

India’s efforts to encroach on former Jaguars

This is not the first time India has purchased retired Jaguars from previous users for spare parts, especially after HAL discontinued production. In 2018, India acquired 31 retired Jaguars from France to cannibalize spare parts.

According to wireOman also provided two additional aircraft with eight Rolls-Royce Adour Mk 811 engines and 3,500 spare parts. Britain likewise sold two two-seat Jaguars and 619 rotary cars for about $400,000.

IAF’s Jaguar fleet, according to a recent survey World Air Force 2026 The report estimates it will have 130 aircraft by 2025 after three losses, while other assessments estimate it will have 120 aircraft. They are distributed across six squadrons, each typically operating 18 to 20 aircraft.

The twin-engine Anglo-French jet remains the mainstay of the Army’s battlefield interdiction mission, a role it calls the Deep Penetrating Strike Aircraft (DPSA). The aircraft began entering IAF service in 1979 and the first 40 jets were purchased in flying condition.

Subsequent examples were built under license between the 1980s and 2008 by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) through technology transfer from SEPECAT, a joint venture between France’s Breguet and the UK’s British Aircraft Corporation. The IAF’s Jaguar IS, IB and Maritime Strike IM variants, locally called “Shamsher” (Brave Sword), have since undergone domestically evolved Display Attack Ranging Inertial Navigation I, II and III (DARIN I/II/III) upgrades.

IAF Ex RAF Jaguars 2IAF Ex RAF Jaguars 2
IAF Jaguar equipped with Harpoon anti-ship missiles, February 2, 2024. (Image credit: Indian Air Force)

Indian Jaguars marred by lack of new engines

The IAF’s Jaguars have been flying for a long time with outdated Rolls-Royce Adour Mk 811 afterburning turbofans, and the cancellation of their replacement has limited their outstanding performance to the DARIN III standard. DARIN III, the defining jet of the Israeli Elta EL/M-2052 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), arrived in 2008, making it the first jet in the IAF fleet to be equipped with such sensors, with its first flight following in 2012.

Other DARIN III features include a fully digital glass cockpit with three multi-function displays. new digital engine and flight instrument system (EFIS) digital displays; digital head-up display (HUD); the new Israeli-made Elbit Display and Sight Helmet (DASH) used to signal Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM); and the integration of American-made AGM-84L Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

However, the jet also needed improved locomotion and maintainable engines, and a potential candidate for this was the Honeywell F125-IN powerplant. The $13.2 million program was canceled in 2019 because costs were deemed too high.

The cause of the Jaguar crashes, which occurred nearly 10 times between 2015 and 2025, is not officially known, but IAF pilots have frequently lamented that the Adour Mk 811’s lack of propulsion limited its maneuverability.

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