The strength of an air force has always been measured by its arsenal, yet the Indian Air Force (IAF) is forcing us to believe that even the most modern machinery is always secondary to the man behind the machine. Despite having a humongous fleet of Russian, French and indigenous fighter jets, a staggering pattern of crashes and combat failures suggest that there is a profound crisis of pilot competence and operational oversight in IAF. It directly points to systematic failure in training and professional incompetence, whenever a multi-million dollar jets fall from the sky during peacetime and international air shows.
Let us not get back to detailed history, the data from the last fourteen months is damning. The IAF’s prestige took a global hit when its indigenous Tejas crashed during a demonstration at the Dubai Airshow in November 2025, while also killing its pilot. The other major crashes of 2025 include a Mirage 2000 in February and Jaguar crashes in March, April and July. This trend further intensified in 2026, with a Tejas crashed during a training exercise in February and just now, on March 5, 2026, a Su30MKI reportedly vanished from radar after taking off from Jorhat, Assam.
During the Pakistan-India May conflict, the most critical indictment of pilot proficiency occurred. IAF lost reportedly six to seven fighter jets, despite flying the most sophisticated Dassault Rafale, alongside MiG-29s and Su-30MKIs. This shows that having superior hardware is irrelevant if pilots cannot maneuver under pressure leading them into death zone.
The crashes of IAF attribute to human factor errors, including pilot’s misjudgment, pressure and enemy fear. The IAF is struggling to bridge the gap between procurement and proficiency because of its persistent loss of aircraft during routine maneuvers and inability to protect assets. Although, India has recently made another defense deal with France to acquire 114 more Rafales as its indigenous Tejas and Jaguars will be grounded by 2040. However, buying machines is one thing, but poor handling of IAF pilots will continue to persist for long.
