India to acquire nine retired Jaguar fighter aircraft from United Kingdom for spare parts

Exam-focused facts from the 21 June 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will acquire nine retired Jaguar fighter aircraft from the United Kingdom (UK) to serve as a source for spare parts and reusable sub-assemblies.
The IAF currently operates six squadrons of these deep strike penetration aircraft and remains the only air force in the world still operating the Jaguar fleet.
Previous procurements of retired airframes include 31 units gifted by France in 2018 and over 20 units transferred from Oman to maintain the ageing fleet.
Critical components salvaged from these imported airframes include landing gears, hydraulics, avionics, and Rolls-Royce Adour engines.
Half of the fleet has been upgraded to the DARIN-III standard, featuring advanced radar for tracking multiple targets, electronic jamming, and cockpit modernisation.