All You Need to Know About AFCAT for Joining the Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force, established on 8 October 1932, is an integral arm of the country’s Defence services. For joining the revered Indian Air Force, AFCAT (Air Force Common Admission Test) entry is one of the entry options available to a prospect besides National Defence Academy (NDA) entry, Combined Defence Services Examination (CDSE) entry and NCC special Entry (for NCC Air Wing C certificate holders only). Through the AFCAT entry, young aspirants can join the Flying Branch, Ground Duty (Technical) and Ground Duty (Non-Technical) Branches after qualifying certain parameters.

The mode of the AFCAT examination is Online and it will be conducted on 24th, 25th and 26th February 2023. Registrations for the same are open till 30th December 2022. Candidates applying for AFCAT must ensure that they fulfil all the eligibility criteria as stipulated in the corresponding Notification. The aspiring candidates’ admission at all the stages of AFCAT i.e. through written examination and Air Force Selection Board (AFSB) test will be purely provisional, and subject to them fulfilling the prescribed eligibility criteria. The candidates must exercise due care while entering the details in the AFCAT registration form, as any wrong information can lead to disqualification of candidature.

An aspirant can join any one of the branches of the Indian Air Force, namely Flying Branch, Ground Duty (Technical) and Ground Duty (Non-Technical) as per the following details:

COMMON ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR AFCAT ENTRY

[Applicable for all the branches i.e. Flying, Ground Duty (Tech) and Ground duty (non tech) branches]

●       Nationality: Indian

●       Gender: Men and Women

●       Marital Status: Unmarried

●       Type of Commission: Short Service Commission (SSC) For Men & Women

Flying Branch 

The Flying Branch of the Indian Air Force recruits pilots to operate advanced aircraft, including fighter planes and jets. This branch deals with all types of active-duty pilots. To enter the Flying Branch of the Indian Air Force through AFCAT, an aspirant has to adhere to the following information: -

●       Age Limit: 20 to 24 years as on date of commencement of training (additional two years relaxation is available for Commercial Pilot Licence holders)

●       Educational Qualification:

❖     Candidates must have mandatorily passed 10+2 with a minimum of 50% marks each in Maths and Physics AND

❖     Passed graduation with a minimum three years degree course in any discipline from a recognised university with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent, or

❖     BE/B.Tech. degree (Four years course) from a recognized university with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent, or

❖     Mandatorily cleared Section A & B examination of Associate Membership of Institution of Engineers (India) or Aeronautical Society of India from a recognized university with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent.

Ground Duty (Technical) Branch 

The technical branch of Ground Duty of the Indian Air Force takes care of the maintenance and upkeep of the assets that powers IAF. Candidates selected in the technical branch are responsible for aircraft and other systems. There are two sub branches in Ground duty (technical) viz. Aeronautical Engineering (Electronics) and Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical) respectively. The selection criteria in the Ground Duty (Technical) Branch are mentioned below: -

●       Age Limit: 20 to 26 years as of the date of commencement of training (for both Mechanical and Electronics sub-streams)

●       Educational Qualification:

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEER (ELECTRONICS) {AE(L)}

Candidates with a minimum of 50% marks each in Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 level AND with a minimum of four years of degree graduation/integrated Post-Graduation qualification in Engineering/ Technology from a recognized university or cleared sections A and B examination of Associate Membership of Institution of Engineers (India) or Aeronautical Society of India or Graduate Membership Examination of the institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers by actual studies with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent in the following disciplines can join the Indian Air Force:

(i) Applied Electronics & Instrumentation (ii) Communication Engineering (iii) Computer Engineering/Technology (iv) Computer Engineering & Application (v) Computer Science and Engineering/Technology (vi) Electrical and Computer Engineering (vii) Electrical and Electronics Engineering (viii) Electrical Engineering (ix) Electronics Engineering/ Technology (x) Electronics Science and Engineering (xi) Electronics (xii) Electronics and Communication Engineering (xiii) Electronics and Computer Science (xiv) Electronics and/or Telecommunication Engineering (xv) Electronics and/or Telecommunication Engineering (Microwave) (xvi) Electronics and Computer Engineering (xvii) Electronics Communication and Instrumentation Engineering (xviii) Electronics Instrument & Control (xix) Electronics Instrument & Control Engineering (xx) Instrumentation & Control Engineering (xxi) Instrument & Control Engineering (xxii) Information Technology (xxiii) Spacecraft Technology (xxiv) Engineering Physics (xxv) Electric Power and Machinery Engineering (xxvi) Infotech Engineering (xxvii) Cyber Security

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEER (MECHANICAL) {AE(M)}

Candidates with a minimum of 50% mark each in Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 level and a minimum of four years degree graduation/integrated Post-graduation qualification in Engineering/ Technology from a recognised University or cleared sections A and B examination of Associate Membership of Institution of Engineers (India) or Aeronautical Society of India by actual studies from a recognised University with minimum 60% marks or equivalent in the following disciplines can register:

(i) Aerospace Engineering (ii) Aeronautical Engineering (iii) Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (iv) Mechanical Engineering (v) Mechanical Engineering and Automation (vi) Mechanical Engineering (Production) (vii) Mechanical Engineering (Repair and Maintenance) (viii) Mechatronics (ix) Industrial Engineering (x) Manufacturing Engineering (xi) Production and Industrial Engineering (xii) Materials Science and Engineering (xiii) Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (xiv) Aerospace and Applied Mechanics (xv) Automotive Engineering (xvi) Robotics (xvii) Nanotechnology (xviii) Rubber Technology and Rubber Engineering

Ground Duty (Non-Technical) Branch

In the Ground Duty (Non-Technical) Branch, aspirants can join the Indian Air Force in several departments like accounts, logistics and meteorology, amongst others. The selection criteria for aspirants entering the Non-Technical Branch are as follows:

●       Age Limit: 20 to 26 years as of the date of commencement of training (for all branches under this head)

●       Educational Qualification:

WEAPON SYSTEMS

●       Candidates should have mandatorily passed with a minimum of 50% marks each in Maths & Physics at 10+2 level and completed graduation with a minimum three years degree course in any discipline from a recognised University with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent. Or,

●       BE/B Tech degree (Four years course) from a recognised University with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent.

METEOROLOGY

●       Passed 10+2 and B.Sc with Physics and Mathematics with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent. Or,

●       Four-year Graduation in Engineering/Technology stream with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent in the following streams:

(i) Communication Engineering (ii) Computer Engineering / Technology (iii) Computer Engineering and Application (iv) Computer Science and Engineering / Technology (v) Electrical and Computer Engineering (vi) Electrical and Electronics Engineering (vii) Electronics Engineering / Technology (viii) Electronics Science and Engineering (ix) Electronics (x) Electronics and Communication Engineering (xi) Electronics and Computer Science (xii) Electronics and/or Telecommunication Engineering (xiii) Electronics and/or Telecommunication Engineering (Microwave) (xiv) Electronics Communication and Instrumentation Engineering (xv) Information Technology (xvi) Mechanical Engineering

ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISTICS

●       Passed 10+2 AND

●       Passed Graduation with a minimum three-year degree course in any discipline with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent or cleared Section A & B examination of Associate Membership of Institution of Engineers (India) or Aeronautical Society of India from a recognised University with minimum 60% marks or equivalent.

ACCOUNTS BRANCH

●       Passed 10+2 AND

●       graduation in any of the following streams with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent from a recognised University:

❖     B.Com Degree (min three years course) 

❖     Bachelor of Business Administration (with specialisation in Finance)/ Bachelor of Management Studies (with specialisation in Finance)/ Bachelor of Business Studies (with specialisation in Finance) 

❖     Qualified CA/ CMA/ CS/ CFA 

❖     B.Sc. with a specialisation in Finance

EDUCATION BRANCH

●       Passed 10+2 AND

●       Post-Graduation with 50% marks in any discipline, including integrated courses offering PG (single degree without permission to exit and lateral entry) and with 60% marks in graduation in any discipline

Depending on the qualifications and route, young aspirants can join any of the branches of the Indian Air Force. Register for AFCAT before 30 December 2022, visit the official website of the Indian Air Force or AFCAT.