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The Indian Air Force has built a maintenance ecosystem of about 930 Indian companies working on mechanical, electrical, electronic and rubber spares for its fighter fleet.
Roughly 62,300 spare parts have been indigenised, covering 97 per cent of frequently used operational spares and 93 per cent of mandatory overhaul spares.
The indigenisation drive has saved about Rs 582 crore in foreign exchange over five years.
The IAF is pairing this with Artificial Intelligence, digital twins and 3D printing to shift from breakdown-driven repair to predictive maintenance.
About 180 MSME and startup projects under the Make, iDEX and Technology Development Fund routes have opened business opportunities worth over Rs 17,000 crore.
A digital twin is a continuously updated virtual model of a physical system, fed by sensor data from the real aircraft. Because the model ages along with the machine, engineers can watch a component's condition drift towards failure and replace it before it fails, rather than waiting for a breakdown and grounding the aircraft. Combined with AI-based analytics, this converts maintenance from a reactive activity into a scheduled, predictable one, which raises fleet serviceability and cuts idle inventory.
Simple Analogy: It is the difference between a car's dashboard warning light coming on after the engine seizes, and a mechanic who has been watching a live copy of your engine for months and tells you which part to change next Tuesday.
Bring startups, MSMEs and individual innovators into defence R&D
Key: Runs Defence India Startup Challenges and funds winners through the Defence Innovation Organisation
Fund Indian industry to develop defence technologies not yet available domestically
Key: Administered through DRDO, aimed at MSMEs and startups
Develop indigenous prototypes of defence equipment with government or industry funding
Key: Part of the Defence Acquisition Procedure; the design and development stage precedes the order
Repair, overhaul and maintenance of IAF aircraft, helicopters and equipment; runs the Base Repair Depots
Air arm of the Indian Armed Forces
Raised as Maintenance Group at Chakeri, Kanpur
Redesignated Maintenance Command
Headquarters shifted to Nagpur
IAF sets up its in-house 3D additive manufacturing centre
Sankalp-2026 compendium released as the indigenisation roadmap for the Russian-origin fleet
Positive indigenisation lists and domestic capital procurement targets have the same objective as this spares programme - cutting import dependence in sustainment, not just in acquisition.
The IAF works with the IITs, IISc, DIAT and MILIT on maintenance technologies, an example of the defence-academia partnership GS Paper 3 asks about.
Sanctions and conflict-driven disruption in a supplier country is now treated as a strategic risk, which is why sustainment of the Russian-origin fleet was prioritised.
GS Paper 3 > Security > Defence indigenisation and technology
Current Affairs > Indian Air Force and defence production
General Awareness > Defence current affairs
A live virtual replica of a physical system, updated by sensor data, used to predict failures before they occur.
Building a component layer by layer (3D printing) instead of cutting it from a solid block; useful for urgent, low-volume spares.
Parts that must compulsorily be replaced when an aircraft or engine goes through a scheduled major servicing.
An IAF establishment under Maintenance Command that repairs and overhauls aircraft, engines and equipment.