IAF and IIT Bombay Join Hands for Master’s-Level Education of India’s Flight Test Crew

The Indian Air Force and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay have signed a Memorandum of Agreement to strengthen advanced academic and research training for military flight-test professionals, bringing together the operational expertise of the Air Force Test Pilots School and the engineering and research capabilities of one of India’s leading technological institutions.

The agreement was signed on 2 September 2026 and establishes a collaborative framework between the Air Force Test Pilots School (AFTPS) at the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) and IIT Bombay. The partnership is aimed at working towards a Master’s Degree for Flight Test Crew, encompassing both Test Pilots and Flight Test Engineers.

The initiative represents an important expansion of flight-test education in India. Flight testing sits at the critical point between aircraft development and operational induction, where new aircraft, weapons, sensors, avionics and other airborne systems must be evaluated for performance, safety and suitability before entering frontline service.

By combining ASTE’s experience in evaluating military aircraft and systems with IIT Bombay’s academic, technological and research infrastructure, the programme is expected to deepen the scientific and engineering foundation available to officers working in this highly specialised field.

The IAF and IIT Bombay have also linked the initiative to India’s wider push for Atmanirbharta in military aerospace. As indigenous programmes become more technologically complex, India requires flight-test professionals capable of understanding not only aircraft handling but also advanced aerodynamics, avionics, sensors, mission systems, control laws, propulsion and increasingly integrated airborne technologies.

AFTPS already occupies a unique position in India’s aerospace ecosystem. The school is the country’s only institution dedicated to training experimental and production flight-test crew for fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing platforms and unmanned aerial systems. Its graduates have contributed to Indian defence-aerospace programmes as well as national projects such as Gaganyaan.

The importance of this capability was again underlined during the 48th Flight Test Course, which graduated in May 2026 after a rigorous 48-week multidisciplinary training programme. Eleven Test Pilots and six Flight Test Engineers completed that course before joining the Aviation Wing of ASTE.

The new collaboration with IIT Bombay could add a formal postgraduate academic dimension to this specialised operational training, while creating opportunities for deeper interaction between military flight testing and advanced aerospace research.

The MoA signing ceremony was presided over by Air Vice Marshal Ashish Srivastava, VM, VSM, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects), Indian Air Force, and Professor Shireesh Kedare, Director of IIT Bombay.

For India’s expanding indigenous aerospace sector, the partnership is significant because flight testing is one of the final and most demanding stages between design and operational deployment. Developing stronger academic and research capabilities among the personnel responsible for that process can help improve evaluation, accelerate development cycles and support the safe induction of increasingly sophisticated Indian aircraft and aerospace systems.

The IAF-IIT Bombay agreement therefore goes beyond the creation of another academic qualification. It represents an effort to connect operational flight-test experience, advanced engineering education and indigenous aerospace development within a single institutional framework as India seeks greater technological self-reliance in military aviation.