Air MarshalVinod K. Bhatia (born 1942), PVSM, AVSM, VrCand Bar is a retired Indian Air Force officer. He is also known by his nickname 'Jimmy'. He was awarded the Vir Chakra during both the 1965 and 1971 wars, and thus became one of only five Indian Air Force officers to have ever received this honor.
Bhatia was born in 1942 to a police officer in Mardan, now located in Pakistan. All three of his brothers and his mother died during the Partition of India; he and his father then settled in the Indian state of Rajasthan. He was commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 1962 after graduating from the National Defence Academy. In 1963, Bhatia along with other Indian Air Force officers trained with the United States Air Force. He received the Top Gun medal during this training period. Bhatia executed strategic bombing and reconnaissance missions during the 1965 and 1971 wars, for which he received the two Vir Chakras.
After completing just a year as an officer, Bhatia was sent to train with the United States Air Force.[1] He was one of 82 officers chosen for this training course, as its eligibility was pilots with more than 200 and less than 300 hours of flying. The officers first went to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas for a month of training with the Royal Air Force. They then trained at the Randolph Air Force Base (also in Texas), and flew Lockheed T-33 trainer aircraft. The pilots flew a total of 14 hours each on the T-33, divided into 90-minute long sorties. The pilots then trained at the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, flying both the T-33s and the North American F-86 Sabres. Bhatia was one of three Indian officers who received the Top Gun award at the end of the course, the other two being Dadoo Subaiya and V. Vidyadhar.[2]
Bhatia returned to India and was assigned to No. 8 Squadron which flew the Dassault Mystère IV. No. 8 Squadron was based at the Adampur Airport and Ambala Air Force Station. Bhatia served with No. 8 Squadron from April 1964 to August 1966, and he flew for almost 500 hours on the Mystère during this time. Bhatia was also awarded his first Vir Chakra while serving with No. 8 Squadron during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965. During his first combat mission, he targeted Pakistani armoured cavalry near Dera Baba Nanak with SNEB rockets on 6 September 1965. The next day, he targeted the Bhagtanwala airfield, located east of Sargodha.[1] On 8 September 1965, Bhatia was piloting the second aircraft in a formation of four Mystère aircraft, dispatched on a mission to attack ground targets. Confronted by intense and targeted gunfire, he continued attacking Pakistani tanks and artillery, wrecking two of their tanks in the process. He was awarded the Vir Chakra for the 18 sorties he flew in the strategic Lahore area, during which he hit multiple targets.[3]
Eight pilots of No. 8 Squadron bombed Bhagtanwala airfield; Vinod Bhatia and Vinod Patney were part of the first squad of this formation. The formation reached Bhagtanwala without being detected by the radar at PAF Base Sakesar. The formation met with low visibility but managed to destroy two F-86 Sabres. After flying over the airfield again and bombing it, they returned to India. However, the formation pilots thought they should have participated in a second attack on Sargodha to inflict more damage.[4] From 1966 to 1967, Bhatia became a Pilot Attack Instructor, the Indian equivalent of a US Top Gun instructor. From 1956 to 1970, fewer than 200 pilots became Pilot Attack Instructors. In 1968, Bhatia flew Hawker Hunter aircraft with No. 37 Squadron. In 1969, he switched to flying the Sukhoi Su-7 with No. 32 Squadron based in Ambala. He served with No. 32 Squadron till 1972. Before the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 had even started, Bhatia had flown 5 sorties against targets in Pakistan. He flew these sorties on 23 and 31 October, and on 9, 10 and 30 November. During these sorties, he targeted Domeil bridge, the Mirpur region, Rahim Yar Khan and Fort Abbas; flying from Pathankot Airport, Adampur, Jaisalmer Airport (twice) and the Sirsa Air Force Station respectively.[1]
On the evening of 3 December 1971, Bhatia and wing commander MS Grewal were the only two pilots present at Amritsar Air Force Station when it was bombed by Pakistani Dassault Mirage aircraft. On 4 December, No. 32 Squadron arrived in Amritsar from Ambala and began operating.[5][6] On 4 and 5 December, Bhatia commanded three air strikes on PAF Base Rafiqui in Shorkot. The pilots who were part of the first echelon on the 4 December raid were Vinod Bhatia, Vijay Vasant Tambay, MS Grewal and AV Sathaye. The 4 December raid was the first mission across the border for all these pilots.[6] Eight Su-7s had taken off from Ambala at dawn, and they were refuelled and armed at Amritsar. A standard drop tank for a Su-7 can carry 700 liters (180U.S.gal; 0.70m3) of fuel. However, Shorkot was at a long distance from Amritsar, and therefore the Su-7s had to be fitted with drop tanks which could carry 900 liters (240U.S.gal; 0.90m3) of fuel. These fuel tanks added to the range of the aircraft, but they made the aircraft a little unstable and limited their maneuverability. The weapons fitted onto the Su-7s were 16 UB-16 rockets on both outer wings, for a total of 32 UB-16 rockets. While the Su-7s were being readied for their mission, some Pakistani MiG-19s flew over Amritsar airbase and were repelled by the anti-aircraft guns stationed there. The Su-7s were ready for takeoff by 0930 hours, and the scheduled time for hitting their target was 1045 hours.[7] Bhatia was surprised when their formation was not attacked as they flew over multiple Pakistani airbases on their way.[8] Bhatia's formation attacked PAF Rafiqui successfully, and their confirmed hits were one English Electric Canberra bomber, a bowser tanker and three F-86 Sabres.[9]
For the 5 December raid, only two aircraft could be used because of the scarcity of long-distance drop tanks. Bhatia selected Tambay to be the second pilot on the mission, because Tambay had come back from the 4 December raid without having dropped his fuel tank.[10] The two pilots started bombing Rafiqui base at 1345 hours (1:45 PM local time).[11] When their mission was almost about to end, Bhatia learned the Shenyang J-6 aircraft they had bombed and which were stationed outside the hangars were dummies. Bhatia released his rockets on the hangars and returned to team up with Tambay, who was by then targeting the aircraft circuit area.[10] An afternoon strike had been decided upon because it was believed the Pakistani air defences would be inactive during lunchtime. However, 100 anti-aircraft guns had been deployed at Rafiqui base after the destructive 4 December raid. Tambay was hit by one of these guns during the second round of bombing and his plane crashed on the runway, Bhatia asked him to eject but received no response.[11] MS Grewal was also shot down during this raid, but he was later repatriated.[5] Tambay's Sukhoi, number B837, dipped towards the runway and then exploded. Bhatia fired all his ammunition at the Operational Readiness Platform (ORP) and returned to their base alone.[10] Tambay and 53 other Indian defence personnel who went missing in Pakistan were never officially found, they were reported missing in action but most probably died as prisoners of war in Pakistan.[12]
On 14 December 1971, Bhatia was the second pilot on a mission to bomb the Government House at Dhaka (now the Old High Court Building, Dhaka). Bhupendra Kumar Bishnoi led the mission, and the other pilots were KS Raghavachari and PS Malhi. Bishnoi was first ordered by Group Captain Malcolm Wollen to attack the Circuit House in Dhaka, Wollen said the mission was ordered by Air Headquarters Delhi. A formation of four aircraft (unnamed) armed with 32 rockets each was assigned for the task. When the formation was about to take off, Wollen ordered the target be changed from the Circuit House to the Government House.[13] Bishnoi did not inform the other three pilots about the changed target till they had reached Dhaka. Bhatia was the first pilot to sight the target. The formation bombed the target in two rounds and hit it with 128 rockets; two days later, the war ended.[14]
Bhatia put three F-86 Sabres out .of service during the bombing raids on PAF Rafiqui. He was awarded the bar to his Vir Chakra for this action, and thus became one of just five Indian Air Force officers to have ever received this honor.[1] The four other Indian Air Force officers who have received the Vir Chakra Bar are BK Bishnoi, AIK Suares, PL Dhawan and Vinod Neb.[15] Bishnoi, Neb and Bhatia received their Vir Chakra Bars for actions during the 1971 war. Bhatia was one of the flight commanders of a fighter bomber squadron during the war. His Vir Chakra citation says he mounted many strategic reconnaissance missions in Pakistani territory, commanded three airstrikes on heavily defended airbases, executed interdictions of Pakistani communication lines and provided close air support to the Indian Army. His citation further says he damaged three Pakistani aircraft, and multiple Pakistani military assets.[16]
Bhatia also flew two risky single aircraft missions during the war, and managed to photograph PAF Base Chaklala and PAF Base Murid fully. From 1974 to 1976, he was deployed to Kut to train Iraqi Air Force pilots on the Su-7, even though he was not a Qualified Flying Instructor. Bhatia clocked a total of 1290 hours on the Su-7, the most hours on a Su-7 by an Indian pilot. He completed his staff college studies at the Defence Services Staff College in 1977. In 1981, as a wing commander, Bhatia became the commander of the No. 220 Squadron, which primarily flew the HAL HF-24 Marut. No. 220 was the second squadron after No. 10 Squadron to induct the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23, and Bhatia commanded the squadron during this time. He led No. 220 Squadron for 2.5 years. From 1984 to 1987, Bhatia was the Chief Operations Officer of the Leh Air Base when fighter jets were being deployed to the base after Operation Meghdoot and the ensuing Indian capture of the Siachen Glacier.[1]
Bhatia was promoted to the rank of air commodore in 1988 at the age of 46. Starting in 1990, he commanded Srinagar Airbase during the violent Kashmir insurgency. For keeping the base combat ready for operations during such volatile conditions, Bhatia was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. In 1992, he studied at the Royal College of Defence Studies in Britain. From December 1997 to April 2002, Bhatia served as the Air Officer Commander-in-Chief (AoC-in-C) of three air commands. Bhatia served as the AoC-in-C of Central Air Command (CAC) during the Kargil War.[1] On 26 January 1998, Bhatia was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.[17]Anil Yashwant Tipnis, who was the chief of air staff during the Kargil War, says Bhatia motivated the pilots of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 to photograph and reconnaissance enemy positions. Tipnis says Bhatia had done this when the MiG-25 was considered very risky and not useful for those tasks. Bhatia flew in the aircraft during the trials to encourage pilots and crew to also do so.[18] Bhatia served as the AoC-in-C of South Western Air Command (SWAC) from 1 November 1999 to 31 July 2001.[19] On 1 August 2001, Bhatia was appointed the AoC-in-C of Western Air Command (WAC).[20] On the same day, in his capacity as SWAC commander, he inaugurated the Phalodi Air Force Station, located approximately 150 kilometres (93mi) from Jodhpur.[21] On 27 November 2001, after two years of trials, WAC inducted the Mikoyan MiG-29 at Leh Airbase, located 3,350 metres (10,990ft) above sea level. Bhatia said the MiG-29s at the airbase would give India more access to Central Asia.[22]
An-32 incident
On 19 February 2002,[23] Bhatia flew an Antonov An-32 into Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) airspace for 11 minutes while flying the first An-32 flight to Kargil Airport.[24] Bhatia was the chief pilot, Wing Commander Suryakant Chintaman Chafekar was the co-pilot, and Flight lieutenant V. Awasthy was the navigator. While attempting a landing at Kargil, Bhatia probably flew close to the Line of Control (LoC) and a Pakistani missile hit the An-32. To rebalance his aircraft and gain altitude, Bhatia flew over the LoC. Bhatia later blamed Awasthy and Chafekar for not warning him that the An-32 was flying towards the LoC.[25] According to Chafekar, Bhatia was not qualified to fly the An-32, but still wanted to fly it to Kargil Airbase as its inaugural flight. The usual approach to Kargil involved flying over Leh and attempting a landing at Kargil only after spotting the runway. However, according to Chafekar, Bhatia directly turned left from Leh and started descending to save time. Chafekar also says Bhatia wanted to land at Kargil even after being hit by a Pakistani missile. Chafekar says the missile hit the aircraft at a fortunate angle; any lower and it would have struck the fuselage, any higher and it would have torn off the aircraft’s wings.[23]
The An-32 had been deployed by No. 48 Squadron,[26] another news report says it was deputed by No. 25 Squadron.[27] Initially, it was reported two Dassault Mirage 2000 were accompanying the An-32, and they did not enter PaK airspace.[28] However, another news report says Bhatia had leaked this story, and also his claim of being hit by Indian gunfire.[29] Bhatia would not have been rebuked, but his claim of Indian gunfire hitting the An-32 angered the Indian Army, who asked for an inquiry. This inquiry was chaired by Manjit Singh Sekhon, the AoC-in-C of Southern Air Command (SAC). Bhatia was then transferred from command of WAC to the post of inspector general. This was considered a demotion since the commander of WAC was only junior to the chief of air staff (CAS) in rank and power.[24] Bhatia was indeed the second highest ranked officer in the Indian Air Force at the time, with the highest ranked officer being Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy, then the CAS.[30]
In an interview, Sekhon claimed Indian Army personnel had seen the An-32 fly over the Indus River in Batalik. Sekhon says eight officers and 50 soldiers had then seen a Pakistani missile hit the right wing of the An-32, which did not crash and instead landed at Leh. Sekhon claims there was political pressure on him to report the An-32 had not strayed into PaK airspace, and that it had been hit inside Indian airspace. Sekhon further claims a controversy was manufactured against him in order to divert political and public attention away from the An-32 incident.[31] According to Indian journalist Praveen Swami, Vinod hadn’t paid attention to the advice given by the other pilots on board the An-32, which was then hit by a Pakistani surface to air missile that burnt the engine of the aircraft. Swami claimed Bhatia had tried to deflect blame by saying he had been targeted by Indian gunfire;[32] however, Tipnis says the incident was a pilot error.[25] In an article, anonymous senior officers said Bhatia might have mistaken the Suru river for the Indus river and flown into PaK airspace. The Suru river's course is followed by Indian pilots to reach Kargil.[33]
Swami further says a border conflict could have started had the An-32 crashed.[32] The report prepared during Sekhon’s inquiry was not published. Bhatia requested his matter be investigated again,[32] partly because Sekhon had asked a politician to promote him to Bhatia's office as WAC commander. In April 2002, the Indian Air Force discovered another secret investigation established by Bhatia and led by Air Commodore VS Govindarajan. This investigation was shut down after the growing controversy split senior officers into two camps supporting either Bhatia or Sekhon.[27]Arjan Singh, the Marshal of the Indian Air Force, and former CAS Satish Sareen asked the air force community to move on from the incident. Singh said flying near the LoC was difficult, and the community should therefore not dwell upon the issue. There was another controversy ranging at the time because Sekhon was junior to Bhatia, and a junior officer is not allowed to investigate a senior officer.[34]
According to the Indian newspaper The Telegraph, Vinod shouldn’t have flown the An-32 for the first flight to Kargil, and instead should have flown fighter jets. This is because the An-32 is bulky and slow, and landing in Kargil is tough. The Pakistani government said the An-32 had been fired at when it entered PaK airspace, and then fired at again when it returned to Indian airspace. According to The Telegraph, both Vinod and Sekhon were not being considered for promotion to the rank of COAS even before the incident. Vinod was scheduled to retire in October 2002.[35] In another article, The Telegraph claimed that the An-32 had been hit by a FIM-92 Stinger missile, which has a range of 3.5 to 4 kilometres (2.2 to 2.5mi). Indian Air Force aircraft usually fly 5 kilometres (3.1mi) away from the LoC when flying to Kargil, but Kargil itself is located just 3.5 kilometres (2.2mi) away from the LoC. The Telegraph also questioned whether the An-32 did not have or did not release thermal rounds to divert the heat seeking Stinger missiles.[36]Arjun Ray, commander of XIV Corps, said Vinod had crossed the LoC and was hit by Pakistani fire before the inquiry was completed. Ray was reprimanded for this action by Sundararajan Padmanabhan, then the Chief of the Army Staff, on the orders of George Fernandes, then the Minister of Defence.[25]
On March 7, Bhatia flew another An-32 from No. 48 Squadron with Chafekar as his co-pilot and Awasthy as his navigator. According to a news report, this flight was attempted to reinforce the air force's reputation after the 19 February incident, with the same crew deputed.[37] Chafekar says he was asked to modify his testimony and pin the blame on himself again after the 7 March flight did not meet the same fate.[38]
Chafekar's account
Bhatia's co-pilot, SC Chafekar, has recounted his version of events in his autobiography.[23] Chafekar says he had executed two test landings at Kargil and had not flown there for 9 months before the incident. Chafekar's commanding officer had told him Bhatia did not want to be a passenger, instead, Bhatia wanted to be spotted descending from the cockpit to commission the new runway.[39] Chafekar briefed Bhatia on the mission and the aircraft, but Bhatia did not pay attention and said he had flown MiG aircraft in the region many times. Before takeoff, Bhatia said he wanted to reach Kargil on time. The course set was to fly over Delhi, Chandigarh, Leh, Fotu La and then land at Kargil. Bhatia did not fly through Leh and flew directly to Fotu La, and then started descending towards Kargil without contacting the base and flying the usual aircraft circuit. Chafekar told Bhatia it would be impossible to spot the runway and land without radioing the base because of the intense snowfall in the area. Bhatia refused.[40]
Navigation then became much more difficult because the aircraft was flying low which reduced the field of vision. The navigator was also flying his maiden flight to Kargil.[41] Chafekar tried to convince Bhatia to gain height because the hilly terrain made it tough for dead reckoning, a method used to determine positions using landmarks. The An-32 had already come down to 16,500 feet (5,000m) without having reached Fotu La.[42] Chafekar says they had entered unfamiliar areas by then, after which they spotted Kargil at a great distance to the left.[43] Chafekar turned the An-32 left, but it was then hit and started flying aimlessly. The aircraft controls announced an engine fire, so Chafekar shut down the engine and turned on the fire extinguisher within the engine. The flight engineer was asked to survey the aircraft from the cargo compartment to sight the fire, which was blazing on the right wing. Chafekar untethered the fuel pumps to the engine and the fire stopped growing. Chafekar decided to regain control of the An-32 and start ascending so the aircraft would not be obstructed by the hills while landing at Leh.[44]
Chafekar says Bhatia did not talk during the crisis, but when the situation was stabilized, he demanded the aircraft land at Kargil so he could attend the event there. Chafekar says he refused and landed at Leh using just one engine, flying close to the hills because the aircraft could not generate much power. On landing, the crew saw the right engine had burst and flown off. The missile had probably lodged inside the engine because of a system failure.[45] Chafekar claims he was pressured by Bhatia to take the blame for the incident.[46] Bhatia had flown with Chafekar about ten times till the 2002 incident, and Chafekar says Bhatia had interfered with flying procedure many times.[47] In August 2001, during a supplies drop at Daulat Beg Oldi, Chafekar says Bhatia had tried to captain the flight and created issues.[48]
Later life
As of 1 August 2001, he had clocked more than 4,000 hours of flying on 16 different aircraft platforms.[20] During his career, he clocked almost 5,000 flying hours and was one of the most decorated officers of the Indian Air Force.[1] Vinod also held the record for the oldest Indian to have performed a tandem skydive jump. He executed the jump at the age of 56 in 1999, jumping from an An-32 near Agra Airport.[49] As of 2020, Vinod was a member of the executive council of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.[50] After the death of Vinod Neb in 2024, Vinod Bhatia remains the only living Indian Air Force officer to have received the Vir Chakra Bar.[15]
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