Every war the Indian Naval Air Arm has fought
The 1971 carrier strikes on East Pakistan are the air arm’s best-known action; the ship-sinking figures are Indian claims, and Pakistan’s own figures for shipping lost to them were not found. Portugal regarded the Goa operation of 1961 as an invasion and India as a liberation. In Operation Sindoor in May 2025 the navy’s role is known only from Indian official statements: the government says the carrier battle group sailed with MiG-29Ks and early warning helicopters, and neither side reported naval air combat. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the blockade of Goa in 1961 to Operation Sindoor in 2025.
| Conflict | Jaren | Tegen | Hoofdvliegtuig | Uitvallen | Vliegtuig verloren | |
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| Operatie Vijayde annexatie van GoaIndian Navy air arm (INAS 300 aboard Vikrant) | 1961 | Portugal | Hawker Sea Hawk | 0 | ||
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Vikrant and its Sea Hawks enforced a maritime blockade and stood ready to deter foreign naval intervention. Vikrant had been in commission for nine months when India moved against Goa in December 1961. The carrier deployed with a contingent of 12 Sea Hawks, but, as Wikipedia’s account of the ship puts it, the fleet did not see action and only enforced a blockade against Portuguese shipping; the air arm’s own encyclopedia page describes its role as deterring foreign naval intervention during the 40-hour operation. The air fighting over Goa, including the bombing of Dabolim airport, was the Indian Air Force’s. The lasting consequence for naval aviation was the airfield itself: the Portuguese had built Dabolim in 1955, and in April 1962 Major General K. P. Candeth handed it to the navy, which moved INS Hansa there from Sulur. Resultaat Portuguese India surrendered after about 40 hours of fighting; in April 1962 the Dabolim airport was handed to the navy. Portugal regarded the operation as an invasion of Portuguese territory; India as the liberation of Goa. The naval aviation role is described only in general terms in the sources checked. |
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| Indo-Pakistaanse oorlog van 1971the Bay of Bengal carrier strikesIndian Navy air arm (INAS 300 and INAS 310 aboard Vikrant; shore-based patrol aircraft) | 1971 | Pakistan | Hawker Sea Hawk, Breguet Alizé | 1 | ||
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Carrier strikes on ports, shipping and airfields in East Pakistan as part of the naval blockade; anti-submarine patrols. On the morning of 4 December 1971 eight Sea Hawks left Vikrant’s deck to strike shipping in the harbours of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar; that evening the air group struck Chittagong again, and over the following days it attacked Khulna and Mongla, with air strikes continuing until about 10 December. Wikipedia’s account of the naval war credits carrier aircraft with sinking the Pakistani gunboat Comilla and damaging the Rajshahi near Chittagong on 4 December. Indian claims grow from there: the Sea Hawk article says the aircraft sank about a dozen vessels without loss, and the carrier’s article credits its air strikes with 100,776 tonnes of Pakistani shipping sunk or destroyed. Pakistan’s own figures for shipping lost to carrier strikes were not found in the sources checked. Wikipedia’s naval war article says the strikes destroyed Pakistan’s capability to retaliate from the air in the east; the Pakistani view was not found. The cost to the air arm was one Alizé, shot down by a Pakistani aircraft. Overall, Wikipedia gives the Indian Navy 194 killed and the Pakistan Navy about 1,900 lost and 1,413 captured. Resultaat Pakistani forces in the east surrendered on 16 December 1971; Bangladesh became independent. Ship-sinking figures are Indian claims; the Pakistani view of the carrier strikes was not found. Wikipedia’s summaries disagree on the strike range (60 nautical miles in one article, 230 in another) and date the Alizé loss differently, so neither is used.
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| Indiase vredesmacht in Sri LankaOperation PawanIndian Navy air arm | 1987–1990 | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam | ||||
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Support of the Indian Peace Keeping Force; the details of naval air operations were not confirmed in the sources checked. Wikipedia lists the Indian Peace Keeping mission among the air arm’s operations without detail. The surveillance need behind it was older: naval aircraft began using the abandoned Ramnad civil aerodrome in 1982 to watch the Palk Strait as the Sri Lankan civil war grew, and the field became INS Rajali II in June 1985 and INS Parundu in 2009. The types flown, sorties and any losses during the IPKF years were not confirmed for this page and are left out. Resultaat The IPKF withdrew in March 1990. Thinly sourced; included because the service lists it among its operations. |
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| Operatie Cactusthe Maldives coup attemptIndian Navy air arm (INAS 312 and maritime patrol aircraft) | 1988 | PLOTE mercenaries | Tupolev Tu-142MK-E, Ilyushin Il-38, Breguet Alizé | 0 | ||
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Maritime search for the ship Progress Light, seized by the fleeing mercenaries. When mercenaries tried to seize power in Malé in November 1988 and fled with hostages aboard the cargo ship Progress Light, the navy’s brand-new Tu-142s, delivered only months earlier, joined Il-38s and Alizés in the search, according to Wikipedia’s Tu-142 article. It was the long-range patrol force’s first operational test. The landing at Hulhulé airport and the airlift were flown by the Indian Air Force. Resultaat The coup failed; the hijacked ship was intercepted by Indian warships. Wikipedia’s Tu-142 article, as summarised for this page, dated the search 4 July 1988; Operation Cactus took place in November 1988, so the date is not used.
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| Operatie Sindoorhet conflict van mei 2025 met Pakistan (Pakistan: Operatie Bunyan-um-Marsoos)Indian Navy air arm (carrier battle group air wing) | 2025 | Pakistan | MiG-29K, Kamov Ka-31 | 0 | ||
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Carrier battle group deployment with MiG-29K fighters and airborne early warning helicopters for surveillance and fleet air defence, according to the Indian government. After the Pahalgam attack, India struck targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on 7 May 2025, and the conflict escalated until a ceasefire on the evening of 10 May. India’s public account of the navy’s part, in a tri-service summary of 18 May 2025, is that the navy deployed its carrier battle group with MiG-29K fighters and airborne early warning helicopters, which ensured persistent surveillance and real-time identification of threats at sea. Wikipedia, citing a defence source quoted by The Daily Telegraph, says India repositioned its Western Fleet, including an aircraft carrier, in the northern Arabian Sea by 9 May, within operational range of Karachi; its article on the new Vikrant says the deployment was a Vikrant-led group. In May 2026 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the navy had forced the Pakistan Navy to remain confined to its ports. Pakistan’s position on the naval deployment was not found in the sources checked. Neither side reported naval air combat. The governments reported 21 civilians and eight military and paramilitary personnel killed in India and 40 civilians and 13 military personnel killed in Pakistan. Resultaat Wapenstilstand vanaf 17:00 uur IST op 10 mei 2025; beide regeringen claimden de overwinning. The navy’s role is known only from Indian official statements and press reporting; which carrier sailed, and whether naval aircraft fired weapons, was not confirmed. The Rajnath Singh statement is a claim by one side.
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Elk cijfer, gecontroleerd
- All India Radio News: Operation Sindoor showcases India’s tri-service precision and synergy (18 May 2025)The Navy deployed its Carrier Battle Group with MiG-29K fighters and airborne early warning helicopters.
- All India Radio News: Indian Navy forced Pakistan Navy to remain confined to its ports during Operation Sindoor: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (31 May 2026)Headline and date seen on the broadcaster’s search page; the Defence Minister’s claim.
- MiGFlug Order of Battle: Indian Air Force dataset (verified 30 September 2026)Internal consistency check: the IAF page’s Operation Sindoor entry, loss claims and Sulur base row.
Cijfers geverifieerd op 1 oktober 2026. Back to the Indian Naval Air Arm.