The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire which honoured India's aviation service during World War II with the prefix Royal. After India gained independence from United Kingdom in 1947, the name Royal Indian Air Force was kept and served in the name of the Dominion of India. With the transition to a republic in 1950, the prefix Royal was removed.
Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, was a senior air officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the 3rd Chief of the Air Staff from 1964 to 1969, leading the Air Force through the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was the first and only officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be promoted to five-star rank as Marshal of the Indian Air Force, equal to the army rank of Field Marshal.
Air Chief Marshal Pratap Chandra Lal, DFC was the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He served in the IAF from 1939 until his retirement in 1973. He was the CAS at the time of Operation Chengiz Khan, the preemptive strikes that were carried out by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) that marked the formal initiation of hostilities of the war.
Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, PVC was an officer of the Indian Air Force. He was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration during war time, in recognition of his lone defence of Srinagar Air Base against a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) air raid during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He is the only member of the Indian Air Force to be honoured with the PVC.
Operation Safed Sagar was the code name assigned to the Indian Air Force's role in acting jointly with the Indian Army during the 1999 Kargil war that was aimed at flushing out regular and irregular troops of the Pakistani Army from vacated Indian Positions in the Kargil sector along the Line of Control. It was the first large scale use of Airpower in the Jammu and Kashmir region since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
No. 7 Squadron, Indian Air Force operates as a Special Munitions Delivery and air superiority unit. Based at Gwalior AFB, No.7 Squadron forms a part of 40 Wing AF, Central Air Command.
The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the Indian Army, and Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire.
The No.3 Squadron (Cobras) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) operates as a Close Air Support (CAS) and reconnaissance unit. Currently based at NAL Air Force Station, No. 3 Sqn falls under the Western Air Command, forms the 46 wing of the IAF.
The Indian Air Force was established on 8 October 1932 independently of the army and navy and in a similar format to the British Royal Air Force. It had been a recommendation of the Skeen Committee, which had been tasked to look into demands for the Indianisation of the Indian army. Its first squadron was raised on 1 April 1933.
During the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, the Indian and Pakistani Air Forces engaged in large-scale aerial combat for the first time. In the air war, which took place in September, both air forces conducted thousands of defensive and offensive sorties over Indian and Pakistani airspace. Both India and Pakistan claimed victory in the air war; Pakistan claimed to have destroyed 104 Indian aircraft and lost 19, and India claimed to have destroyed 73 Pakistani aircraft and lost 35 of its own. The air war ended in a stalemate.
Chhoona Hai Aasmaan is a Hindi television serial that aired on Star One.It's about six Indian air force officers who form a team called the HAWKS. Their duty is to save the country from any terrorist attacks.
The Indian Army had no standby force ready in 1971 with the specific task of attacking East Pakistan, one of the many reasons why India did not immediately intervene after Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight in March 1971. Indian Army's Eastern Command was tasked with defending the northern and eastern borders and fighting the insurgencies in Nagaland, Mizoram and Naxalites in West Bengal at that time.
Poonch Airport is an airport located in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Though no scheduled flights operate from Poonch, in 2005, then Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad made a suggestion to Air Deccan that they start flying small aircraft to Poonch. The then Chairman of Air Deccan, Captain Gopinath said that Air Deccan would consider flying helicopters to Poonch.
No. 18 Squadron, is an air-defence unit of the Indian Air Force, flying from Sulur Air Force Station. The squadron is equipped with indigenous HAL Tejas MK1 in FOC configuration.
In the wake of heavy monsoon rain and flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Armed Forces were deployed in increasing numbers starting 2 September 2014 to conduct search, rescue, relief, relocation, humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation missions in Jammu and Kashmir. By 18 September, over 298,514 people were rescued from the various parts of Jammu and Kashmir by the Armed forces. The Jammu and Kashmir floods, the worst in a century according to Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, paralyzed the state government. Omar Abdullah, responding to public criticism, told the media "I had no government" in the first few days following the floods, as "My secretariat, the police headquarters, the control room, fire services, hospitals, all the infrastructure was underwater." Adding "I had no cell phone and no connectivity. I am now starting to track down ministers and officers." The Jammu and Kashmir floods of 2014 have been blamed on heavy rainfall, about 8 inches (200mm) on 4 September alone, on climate change, unplanned and uncontrolled development, encroachment of river banks, lakes, ponds, and massive loss of wet lands, absence of local government flood forecasting system, and poor governance. The Armed Forces humanitarian assistance mission in response to the floods was named Mission Sahayata (assistances). Northern Command's humanitarian assistance to Civil authorities was named 'Operation Megh Rahat'. The Indian Army, Air Force, and the Navy, committed large resources to the assistance mission including over 30,000 troops, 15 engineer task forces, 84 Indian Air Force and Army Aviation Corps fixed wing transport aircraft and helicopters, naval commandos and rescue specialists, and Base Hospital, four field hospitals, over 106 medical detachments. "Operation Megh Rahat", ended on 19 September 2014, but "Operation Sadbhavna", the relief and medical assistance support, according to government press release, will continue in "close synergy with the civil administration and the police".
Air Commodore Mehar Singh, MVC, DSO, was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force. He was affectionately known as 'Mehar Baba', a sobriquet coined by Aspy Engineer. Considered a Legend of the IAF, he last served as the Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Operational Group.
Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar, PVSM, MVC was a former Air officer in the Indian Air Force. He served as the 9th Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force from 1 February 1976 till 31 August 1978.
1971: Beyond Borders is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language war film written and directed by Major Ravi. It is the fourth installment in the Major Mahadevan film series, with Mohanlal reprising his double role as Colonel Mahadevan and a new character, Major Sahadevan. It also features Arunoday Singh and Allu Sirish. The film, set in two time periods, is based on the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and act as both prequel and follow-up to the series. Mohanlal's and Sirish's characters were modeled on Hoshiar Singh Dahiya and Arun Khetarpal, both of whom were awarded the Param Vir Chakra for their roles in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War.
Group Captain Virendera Singh Pathania was an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot reputed for making the first confirmed aerial dogfight kill of independent India when he shot down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Sabre Jet with his Folland Gnat on 4 September, 1965. For this action, he was awarded the Vir Chakra.
No. 8 Squadron, nicknamed the Haiders, is a tactical attack squadron from the No. 32 TA Wing of the Pakistan Air Force's Southern Air Command. It is currently deployed at Masroor Airbase and operates multiple variants of the Dassault Mirage 5 strike fighter.
