In historic turnaround, Indian Air Force instructors to train British pilots in Wales

In a striking reversal of history, Indian Air Force (IAF) instructors are to be based at RAF Valley in Wales to help train Britain’s next generation of pilots — the same skies where Indian trainees once learned to fly under Royal Air Force (RAF) supervision half a century ago.

This version of a Hindi-UK ‘bhai bhai’ plan, first reported by The Daily Telegraph in London and confirmed in part by Indian media quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is part of a new defence co-operation framework and marks the first time since the Second World War that Indian personnel will formally instruct RAF crews.

The Royal Air Force, Britain’s air arm and the world’s oldest independent air force, has long served as a model of training and discipline for Commonwealth militaries, including India’s.

For the RAF, the decision is driven by necessity. A chronic shortage of qualified flight instructors, coupled with recurring technical problems on its Hawk T2 trainer jets, has created long bottlenecks in fast-jet training.

Instructors from the IAF — who already fly near-identical hawks built under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited — will help plug the gap while also deepening professional links between the two air forces.

Although India’s combat squadrons fly a mix of Russian, French and indigenous aircraft, its training backbone remains British. The Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer, built under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics in Bengaluru, is the same platform used by the RAF at Valley. That shared lineage makes Indian instructors uniquely qualified to help bridge the RAF’s shortage, even as the two air forces operate vastly different front-line fleets.

Half a century ago, Indian pilots crossed continents to master Britain’s Jaguars, flying low-level sorties from Lossiemouth and Coltishall across the Welsh valleys.

Among those early Jaguar trainees was a young Indian naval pilot named Arun Prakash — later to become India’s Chief of Naval Staff — whose aircraft crashed during a low-level training sortie over Wales in 1979.

He survived, shaken but unhurt, a reminder of how unforgiving those valleys could be even for the most skilful flyers. Many of the men who trained in Britain went on to shape India’s own combat doctrines at Ambala and Gorakhpur. Now their successors return as teachers, closing a historical loop that stretches from the Cold War to the Indo-Pacific.

Defence analysts say the arrangement carries symbolism as well as pragmatism: it recognises that Indian aviators are now regarded as professional peers rather than protégés, capable of working within NATO-grade systems and safety protocols.

Retired Air Marshal Edward Stringer told The Daily Telegraph the step was “unprecedented.” “They should have done something like this years ago,” he said. Former RAF fighter-pilot instructor Tim Davies added that Indian trainers would be an asset but warned it could take a year to bring them fully into the British system. “This is just a stopgap to make up for the shortfall and loss of talent the RAF has haemorrhaged,” he told The Telegraph.

The Hawk T2 fleet — the backbone of Britain’s fast-jet training — has been plagued by reliability problems that have grounded aircraft and delayed courses. Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the Chief of Defence Staff, said last year that the type was outdated and unreliable, adding, “We get about half of what we should out of it.” The RAF has been forced to send small numbers of student pilots overseas while it rebuilds its instructor pool.

According to RAF sources quoted by British newspapers, there were only 17 qualified Hawk instructors late last year; the number is expected to rise to 26 by early 2026, with the arrival of the Indian contingent further easing the strain.

The collaboration also fits into a wider pattern of military engagement between London and New Delhi. Only days ago, India confirmed a £350-million order for British-made air-defence missiles and launchers, securing several hundred jobs in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy’s carrier strike group, led by HMS Prince of Wales, has been conducting exercises in the Indian Ocean with the Indian Navy’s carrier INS Vikrant under Operation Highmast.

Earlier this year, that trust was tested in unusual fashion when a British F-35B stealth fighter from HMS Prince of Wales was forced to make an emergency landing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The jet remained stranded on the tarmac for more than a week while engineers and spare parts were flown in from Britain.

IAF teams helped secure the aircraft and provide logistical support until it was repaired and flown out. What might once have been an awkward episode — a foreign combat jet grounded on Indian soil — instead became a symbol of quiet co-operation, underlining how far the two countries have moved from guarded courtesy to operational confidence.

British officials describe the new training agreement as a “win-win,” strengthening the RAF’s pilot-training pipeline while reinforcing the two countries’ strategic partnership.

As one retired RAF officer commented privately, “Eighty years ago, we taught them to fly our aircraft. Now they’re helping us teach our own. That’s not dependency — that’s partnership.”