HF-24 Marut

 This is my pencil sketch of a legendary jet fighter of Indian Air Force that fought valiantly in 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. By far the most elegant military aircraft to take to Indian skies, this indigenously built fighter bomber by Hindustan Aeronautics named HF-24Marut (in Sanskrit “Spirit of Tempest”) first flew on 17 June 1961. Designed by the well-known German aircraft designer Kurt Tank and Indian engineers from Hindustan Aircraft Limited at Bangalore, a total of 147 aircraft were built, including 18 two-seat trainers. Although originally conceived to operate in the vicinity of Mach 2, the aircraft in fact turned out to be barely capable of reaching Mach 1 due to the lack of suitably powered engines for the airframe.  However, with twin engine benefits and good flying control characteristics this aircraft proved to be a very robust platform in 1971 Indo-Pakistan war where it was used for attacking ground based enemy targets. Armed with 4x30 mm ADEN cannons with 120 rds per gun, Retractable Matra pack of 50× 2.68 in (68 mm) rockets and upto 4000 lbs on four pylons, this aircraft carried a fair punch in its ground attack role. It has even an air-to-air kill to its credit. Marut flown by Sqn Ldr KK Bakshi of 220 Squadron shot down a PAF F-86 Sabre on 7 Dec 71. PAF pilot shot down was Flying Offr Hamid Khwaja. Another creditable war record of this fleet of aircraft  is that no Marut was lost in air-to-air combat, although four were lost to ground fire and two were destroyed on the ground. Three Marut pilots were awarded the Vir Chakra commendation.

The Marut had good survivability record too in enemy airspace. On number of occasions, Maruts    regained their base after one engine had been lost to ground fire. On one of these, a Marut returned to base on one engine, from about 150 miles (240 km) inside hostile territory.  Consequently, the pilot had no difficulty in flying his crippled fighter back to base.  

All Maruts were retired from IAF service in 1990

.. (Information courtesy Wikipedia)  

My pencil sketches of aircraft

Shooting down of Pakistani Jet in Indo-Pak War of 1965

On 16 September 1965, as the air war between India and Pakistan was raging on its 16^th day, a young fighter pilot from Indian Air Force (IAF) was able to draw first blood shooting down a F 86 Sabre jet of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) from his British made Hawker Hunter F 56.  Indian pilot was Flying Officer (later Air Marshal) PS ‘Pingo’ Pingale  and for him the sweet taste of victory was laced with larger satisfaction of getting his scores even with PAF in a period of less than ten days.

On 07 September 1965, Fg Offr Pingale while flying a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) mission over Halwara, Punjab was shot at by a PAF Sabre who had managed to creep  in behind unnoticed and  let go a deadly volley of machine gun fire from point blank range on his Hunter fighter. On looking back Pingale spotted his attacker behind and turned into him. But his controls were sluggish and his cockpit was already getting filled with smoke. He was left with no other option but to pull the ejection handle of his Martin Baker seat as his aircraft was plummeting towards ground with mere 100 feet to go. He did survive the ejection but experienced a severe pain in the lower back, a common injury that most fighter pilots suffer in an ejection. The injury was serious enough for any pilot to be grounded for months on health ground as another ejection during recovery period can either be fatal or result in permanent injuries like complete paralysis from waist down. For Flying Officer Pingale, spending the rest of the war lying on a hospital bed while his squadron was fighting a war was unthinkable. There was also a burning desire in his guts to get even with Pakis. Pingo managed to convince the doctors at Air Force Central Medical Establishment (AFCME), New Delhi that he was fine and fighting fit although he was nurturing a nagging pain in the lower back.  Very soon Pingo joined his squadron known as ‘Battleaxes” at Halwara. It did not take too long for him to strap into a cockpit and fly a number of interdiction missions deep in enemy territory. But while engaging targets on ground his eyes constantly scanned the sky to find an enemy fighter to even out his personal score with his enemy. 

On 16 September 1965, that opportunity arrived as the Hunter formation flown by him on an air defence mission  with  Flying Officer FD Bunsha as his wingman  was vectored by the GCI station (ground radar) for an intercept on two enemy aircraft prowling in Indian airspace at around 20,000 feet. Pingale’s made visual contact with one Sabre approaching head on and from beneath. As he maneuvered his section to get behind the Sabre it turned on a Southerly heading and carried on straight. It appeared to him that the Sabre had not spotted the Hunters at this stage and that helped the Hunters to steadily close in on the lone enemy. However, gut feeling and months of air combat training kept telling Pingale to look for a second enemy aircraft and on deepening his scan in the rear quarter he spotted the second Sabre at 4 O’clock at approximately 800 yards rapidly closing in and ready to fire.  Pingale told less experienced Bunsha to split and go for the enemy ahead as he turned on to face his adversary in rear quarter.  Pingale  crossed the Sabre head on and  reversed steeply to engage him using the vertical plane, a tactics that was well suited for a Hunter with a more powerful engine as compared to a Sabre. US made Sabre, on the other hand, was an extremely well designed fighter for a dog fight especially at low level and had an unviable record of almost 5:1 kill in favour against Russian MiGs in Korean War.  Its six browning machine guns could fire an extremely lethal envelope of bullets that could rip apart an aircraft to shreds. However, it lacked a powerful engine.  Combat advise to all Hunter pilots was never to engage a Sabre in a turning plane as it can out turn any fighter in the world at low level. Take the fight vertical and watch his performance bleed owing to a less powerful engine and then close in for a kill, it said.   

As combat with the Sabre progressed, Pingale started gaining on his adversary forcing him to make series of errors that helped him to close in further and open fire with his four 30 mm cannons spewing bullets at 1200 to 1300 rounds per minute. First burst was from 400 yards  but missed as aiming with a gyro gunsight required steady tracking for few seconds and in the excitement of the battle Pingale’s aiming had gone wild. But soon training took over and he settled down for his second shot from 200-250 yards with proper ranging and tracking. The correct aiming index in a dog fight is always the opponent’s cockpit which ensures a sure kill.  For the second salvo of bullets, Pingale had pipper of his gunsight perfectly resting on the Sabres’ cockpit He eased back the pipper a bit behind the cockpit hoping the rounds would not hit the pilot and pressed the trigger for the second time and watched the Pakistani jet literally explode in front him.

(My painting tried to capture on canvas the precise moment  Fg Offr Pingale releases the trigger as the Sabre is about to explode in front at probably 150 yds from him)

 Pakistani pilot was young Flying Officer Shaukat Ali, who managed to eject unaware that a fellow pilot’s benevolence had saved his life. Shaukat spent rest of the war in an Indian POW camp.

 While combating with his Sabre, Pingale had noticed Bunsha gradually loosing his hold in his battle with the first Sabre and warned him to be careful. But to his dismay, he saw the Pakistani getting better of Bunsha and Hunter going down spewing smoke. He yelled at Bunsha to eject but there was no response from Bunsha’s aircraft as it continued to go down. By now Pingale’s Sabre was a ball of flame and he instantly put his Hunter in a turn towards the Sabre who had continued to fire at the stricken aircraft of Bunsha. Bunsha did not to eject as cannons shells from Pakistani pilot seemed to kill him instantly.  As Pingale turned into Sabre on Bunsha’s tail, it gave up firing and turned sharply to face him. Both aircraft crossed head on at high speed and Pingale immediately reversed hauling the Hunter around half expecting to find the Sabre doing the same. But he was in for surprise. The Sabre choose to fly away at high speed from the fight on a homebound course. An indignant Pingale gave chase diving steeply with an aim to close in behind the running Sabre. As ground rushed in Pingale pulled hard to recover from his steep dive he was in  and immediately felt a shearing pain from his back injury suffered during his recent ejection.  High ‘g’ force also blacked him out completely. As he was recovering his wits about, the Sabre made a clean get away.  Later it was confirmed that one who got away was none other than ace of ace of Pakistani Air Force, Squadron Leader MM Alam. Alam claimed both the Hunters, Bunsha with guns and Pingale with a Sidewinder AAM..and Pakistan Air Force obliged its hero with two more Hunters to his credit.

Satisfied at shooting down of a Sabre and sad at losing Bunsha, Pingale flew back to his base under radar cover. Back at the base his gun camera footage was analysed to grant him the kill of Flying Officer Shaukat Ali’s aircraft and that earned him a Vir Chakra.

An IAF MiG-21 firing a K-13 AAM over the sea of Saurashtra.

An IAF MiG-21 firing a K-13 AAM over the sea of Saurashtra.

Mi 4 helicopter of IAF

Painting of a Mi-4. One of the earliest helicopter IAF operated of Russian region that became the workhorse in both 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan.

Gnat Vs Sabre : clash of the titans

FIRST AIR BATTLE POST KOREAN WAR

                                                                                                            

Manna Murdeshwar

           

            When dawn unfolded on the morning of 1^st Sept, 1965, on the Green Fields of Ambala  airport, we of No. 23 Sqn. AF did not realize what was in store for us.  The “buchi woochies” ( hairy caterpillars) of Green Fields had crept onto our flying overalls and ‘g’ suits and we were busy brushing these off when word was transmitted to detach 4 Gnats to Halwara for ORP duties.   ORP duties were routine in those days, so not many eyebrows were raised.  Sikand, Pat, Gill and Kitcha were accordingly instructed “to get there!”

            On 2^nd Sept, 65 at about 1000 hrs, instructions received from WAC named Johnny Greene, Manna Murdeshwar, AJS Sandhu and Trevor Keelor  to fly four armed Gnats to Pathankot.  Johnny and Sandhu, thus became attached to No. 23 Sqn.  We took off in the afternoon of the same day in a low level abreast formation . 

            We landed at Pathankot, at sunset and while taxiing to the dispersal I was greeted by dejected and sad looking faces of course mates & others standing alongside the taxiway.  It was only when we all walked out to the Technical Area, that we learnt of the four Vampires that had been  shot down on their attempt to neutralise the large scale Pak Army’s thrust towards Akhnoor.

      

          We were unaware of this major Pak operation and the consequence of Indian Army’s SOS to the IAF for air support that resulted in the rather misguided deployment of the ineffective Vampires from Pune.  This , if I may call it, was a foolish endeavour, as it resulted  in the loss of four Vampires and three  pilots (one bailed out).  The apparent intention of the Pak Army was to make  a rapid thrust from the Chamb-Jauhria sector to the Akhnoor bridge, thereby cutting off  J & K State from India.  The unfortunate decision of deploying Vampires against well- armed Pak  forces was a reflection of the poor analysis and decision making abilities of our then, rather naive leadership.

            When we assembled at the temporary makeshift office given to us, we were pleasantly surprised to find Sikand and his team also present.  On their landing at Halwara, they were redirected to Pathankot.  Thus, there were eight of us comprising the No. 23 Sqn. Dett.  Sikand, though senior most, realised he was not an experienced combat pilot and therefore graciously asked Johnny to become the leader of the Dett..

             The so called brief  given to us on 02 Sept late evening, was only to develop any suitable tactics that would result in at least one Sabre casualty.  Two Mystere  Squadrons based at Pathankot could also be included to evolve any tactics that would yield the desired results. Johnny with the concurrence of  the Mysteres’ Commanders drew out a plan that would draw the Sabres onto the Mysteres flying at about 20,000 ft. whence they would paint on the Pak radar. The Gnats at tree top heights, would then climb up to engage the Sabres. That would be the indication for the Mysteres to swoop low and return to base. 

            On completion of the plans, we trudged along to the Officers’ Mess where we learnt that no rooms were available for us.  It was already about 2130 hrs so we had our dinner, pulled a few charpoys  outside a room and slept in our flying overalls.  At about 3 am we were woken up, and clutching  our flying  gear,  sleepily trudged along to the dispersal with no vehicle, bearer,  or tea in sight!  “Wheels up” was scheduled at 0600 hrs.  After the  Met briefing, all eight of us  taxied  out and  waited for the Mysteres  to get air borne. We then took off in formations, fully armed with guns and drop tanks to cater for the low level flight and air combat, that was likely to ensue.

            It must be appreciated that the Pak radar was far superior to ours.  While the  Sabres were always within sight of Pak radars, our 230 SU at Amritsar and the 501 SU at Barnala, were not as efficient to control and guide or warn us of any threat that could develop.

          As we arrived at the Chamb sector, the Mysteres at height, were picked up by Pak radar and as foreseen  the Sabres arrived to meet them.  At 501 SU’s warning, the Mysteres, dropped height and both our Gnat formations  moved up to engage the Sabres.

           We were in a finger  four  a/c formation, led by Johnny and self, as No.2, Sikand No.3 & Pat No.4. The rear formation were spread out abreast, as normally done, led by Trevor, with No,2 Gill, No.3 Sandhu, & No.4 Kitcha.

          In the combat that followed, a lone Sabre was spotted behind me prompting Trevor to call a starboard ‘break’.  Siki,  unable to maintain position,  fell off, and disappeared from sight. Pat, who also ‘got out of phase’, spotted a F104 & turned into him hoping for a possible engagement, but without success. Both Johnny's & my ‘ break’ made the Sabre fall out, placing it in front of Trevor who successfully fired at the Sabre. Sandhu who followed, also fired  a few more shots, for luck!

           Johnny & I landed together, with Pat & the rest following at intervals. Siki unfortunately was not with us and we learnt later that he had landed in Pakistan. That brought to a close the first day's air battle.   

            The shooting down of a Sabre brought much joy to WAC. Trevor was recommended for a Vr.C which  was promptly announced in the evening’s News Bulletin over All India Radio. ( But much after the hostilities were over, we learnt that the ‘shot down Sabre’ had purportedly, landed at its base full of bullet holes).  Nevertheless, it was a memorable air battle and the kudos were rightly earned, since it raised the morale of the Service  and the country!

(As an aside I  would like to state that the late AVM Johnny Greene Vr.C., did not receive all the credit he deserved. To my mind he was one of the top combat pilots that I have had  the opportunity  to fly with. Not only was he an excellent flyer but also a good combat instructor who could explain  and demonstrate each manoeuvre very lucidly. I was fortunate to learn more about combat flying from him at the mini DFLS Course, he conducted at Ambala. God bless his soul.)

(I would also like to place on record that I had the occasion to engage in a couple of more air to air combats with the PAF Sabres. Without holding back any punches, let me state that I developed a professional respect for the PAF pilots’ flying abilities. On both  my engagements with them, they were initially in an advantageous position. But as they lost the advantage during the gradual descent to lower heights, they managed to ‘notch a  flap’, half roll & rapidly disappear.  We, in the Gnats, devoid of flaps, could not half roll at those heights, thereby remaining at a disadvantage.) 

Attack on Tiger Hill : Kargil Ops 1999

This is my painting on attack of Tiger Hill by Mirage 2000 of Indian Air Force (IAF)  with Laser Guided Bomb (LGB). The painting has been composed purely on my visualisation of the attack after some detailed discussions with officers that planned and executed this daring operation that will certainly go down in records as exemplary integration of ideas and efforts by pilots and engineers of IAF to achieve brilliance in time of actual operation.  

I do not know if I can reveal all that I know on integration of the LDP with the weapon and with weapon delivery system of Mirage 2000 that was so vital for success of the mission. Few of my good friends who were test pilots in IAF and now retired had assisted me with the facts with a request to record the event on canvas. As I am not at all familiar with a Mirage 2000 it took me almost two years to get the   photographs of the trainer aircraft with the actual configuration (LDP +LGB+Remora+ Magic 2+ Wing Tanks). CO 7 Sqn was quite generous with his help. I also bought a scale model of a Mirage trainer to plan my composition.

I am sure those of you that have flown Mirage 2000 or have worked on ground may find quite a few mistakes/errors in the painting. I will be grateful if such errors can be pointed out. The paint is still wet and all minor of major defects can be attended to with minimum hassel.

Finally, on the sortie itself, what can be better than a narrative provided by the pilot himself. A write-up on the attack by AVM R Nambiar, which is available in public domain, is attached. To me it was one of the “Finest Hour of IAF History”. I also must add that I have read a blog by a PAF historian Air Cmde Kaiser Taufail (Retd) and he says that use of LGB by Mirages was the actual game changer.   

From Air Mshl Bhojwani

Initially WAC started with 57mm rockets fired by Type 96 and MiG27s, but these had virtually no effect - the cine films showed these weapons to hit the hill side/valley and their blast getting blanketed by the snow! They were terribly inaccurate too because after our Canberra was hit by a Stinger (21st May 99) we had to keep a minimum vertical separation of about 5000 ft between the aircraft and the hill tops (which themselves were about 20,000 ft amsl).  No one had fired RPs at that altitude and so the errors were large.  We then tried S24s, but these also didn't prove successful, and at least one MiG27 suffered a flame out as a result of firing this weapon, which had been cleared by the Russians only up to 5km amsl.

It was in these circumstances in late May 99 that the idea of using LGBs from Mirage 2000 came to my mind.  However, having followed the trials being done at ASTE, with help from the Israeli team, for integrating the new LDP on Mirage, I knew that the team had gone back to Israel for the summer with the trials having been left half undone.  Nevertheless, the CAS  jumped at the idea and asked for immediate completion of the trials. You can imagine the amount of work that everyone at Bangalore and Gwalior had to put in to complete the task. As you are aware, the Mirage systems are digitally interfaced and integrated very closely indeed.  Unlike earlier generation of aircraft, even if a weapon could physically fit on the Mirage hard point, the computer will not accept it  There would therefore be serious problems in flying the aircraft in such an un-programmed configuration.  For instance, the FBW system would not recognise the weapon, nor make the necessary adjustments to the control laws to keep the aircraft (artificially) stable, nor allow release of such a weapon.  I think our TPs, engineering and logistics people did a great job in mating the LDP and bomb and 'fooling' the Digicomp into believing the 1000lb bomb (with LGB kit) was a 'valid' weapon.  Even when the aircraft was cleared for the task about 20 days later, there a few minor tweaks left over to make the system work 100%, but it was decided to use it anyway. The fact that the system worked well enough to achieve the end result was a credit to all the guys who worked behind the scenes and flew the missions.  I don't think the IAF really gave recognition to all the brilliant people who made it happen.

Vampires over Chamb – Indo Pak War 1965

This is one of series of paintings that I am doing in an attempt to recreate some of the major encounters of Indian Air Force in Indo-Pak War of 195.

This painting is about the very first day IAF was called into action to blunt a massive armoured thrust across the IB by the Pakistani Army on 01 September 1965 code named “Operation Grandslam”. Main objective of the Pakistani thrust was to cut off Kashmir supply line from the rest of the country by taking the bridge at Akhnur.

As Pakistan offensive with nearly 70 tanks and two infantry brigades crossed the IB towards Indian Army forward positions at dawn of 01 September 1965, Indian Army was completely outnumbered and asked for air support at 1100 hrs. So far both countries had not declared war and hence use of Air Force had to be cleared only by the Cabinet. Defence Minister gave the approval at close to 1800 hrs and first formation of Vampires of four aircraft lead by Sqn Ldr SK Dahar took off from Pathankot at 1719 hours. Two more formations armed with rockets and guns took to air at interval of 10 minutes each with last formation attacking the enemy positions at fading light.

Vampires pounced on Pakistani armour with rockets and guns doing repeated attacks unmindful of intense ground fire and possible air threat from Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Second Vampire formation was bounced by a pair of PAF F 86 Sabres. Faced with threat from a superior aircraft the right action for the obsolete Vampires should have been to hit the deck and get out of the area at the fastest. However, from account now available from a PAF Sabre pilot including of a gun camera photo taken from his aircraft, it has been confirmed that far from running away, Vampires tried to give a fight to the Sabres. In the completely uneven duel, three gallant Indian pilots lost their lives.

Vampires were followed by Mysteres into the battle area. In this very first action by IAF in 1965 war it claimed 13 tanks, 2 guns and 62 soft-skinned vehicles destroyed and most importantly IAF was able to prevent a major Pakistani breakthrough.

Tuskers raid Peshawar: Indo-Pak War 1965

This is an account of a few audacious Canberra crews who flew almost 600 NMs into the enemy territory at night, trailing one another at near medium levels without any escort and without any radar cover, to bomb a very formidable airbase of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in 1965 war with Pakistan.  

 Unlike IAF in 1965, PAF with its US built F 104 Starfighters equipped with Sidewinder AIM 9B missile had night intercept capability and vintage Canberras practically were sitting ducks against this supersonic, state of the art interceptor. PAF also was fortunate to receive from US an effective radar chain for early warning purposes. Against this background, planning a mission to Peshawar for Canberras was suicidal   as it entailed flying to a target at its extreme flying range, through the enemy heartland with no allowance of fuel for any tactical routing. Fuel constraint also meant limited payload.  

 Attacking Peshawar became important for India as PAF had moved bulk of its attack force to its rear airfields and almost the entire B 57 ac bomber force was shifted to Peshawar immediately after IAF carried out retaliatory strikes on most of PAF bases with its Hunters and Mysteres on 07 Sep 1965. PAF considered Peshawar to be outside the range of Indian strike aircraft and hence a safe haven for its strategic force of US made B 57 long range bombers. Yet, as night fell at Peshawar on 13 September 1965, 08 (Eight) Canberras of 5 Squadron stealthily approached Peshawar. The typical profile of a Canberra raid was to approach to a pre –calculated pull up point between 200 and 500 ft AGL, pull up steeply to about 12,000 feet to drop the load and then climb progressively to 40,000 ft, to escape from Pakistani territory.

As Canberras closed in to their target, the ack -ack batteries opened up signaling raiders have been detected. PAF pilots and ground crew ran to take shelter in trenches and they had the rare privilege of seeing the first Canberra drop flares to illuminate the airfield and then thunder down the main runway at 200 feet, before pulling up at its end in an wingover to turn back and drop its bomb load at the end of a dispersal of parked aircraft. Had luck favoured the Tuskers, they would have wiped out the entire strategic strike component of the PAF with a single blow as the entire force of sixteen B 57s were lined up wingtip to wingtip on a dispersal. Unfortunately for IAF, the single 4000 lb bomb that fell closest to the parked B 57s hit soft soil and its explosive force was dissipated. However, bombs dropped from other members of Tusker force found their marks as fuel dumps were set ablaze, ATC building was flattened and aircraft on ground were damaged.

As Canberras set course for home, the inevitable happened. A lone Starfighter was vectored for an intercept on to the retreating bomber force. Canberras did all that was possible to do to prevent a massacre. Sqn Ldr Gautam saw a streak of flame appear in the darkness and made its way towards the bombers as the Starfighter launched its missile. However, luck favored the brave and the missile exploded harmlessly, possibly due to its proximity fuze malfunctioning. All eight Canberras landed safely at Agra.

The raid shook the PAF out of its complacency. No airfield or town was out of range of Indian bombers. No one in Pakistan had thought that the IAF would bomb Peshawar with impunity. The raid also forced  the Americans (USAF),  that had  maintained a full- fledged Signal Intelligence base about 20 miles South of Peshawar,  to evacuate all its personnel with families through Iran and return only after cessation  of hostilities.

Tuskers raid of Peshawar will certainly go down as one of most audacious bomber attack in history of military aviation. The significance of the raid was a symbolic gesture, less material damage.  Even John Fricker, the PAF commissioned hagiographer was moved to an effusive turn of phrase in describing the raid as, ‘the most effective Canberra attack of the war’.

The real heroes of the raid were undoubtedly the Navigators whose chances of survival without an ejection seat for them in Canberras    were very close to nothing.  It is, therefore, rightly so that Navigators Sqn Ldr SN Bansal and Flt Lt P Dastidar were awarded Vir Chakras for their acts of exceptional gallantry and Commanding Officer Wg Cdr PP Sing was decorated with a Mahavir Chakra, country’s second highest gallantry award.  Other members of the raid were  Sqn Ldr JC Verma (Leader), Flt Lt Deshpande, Wg Cdr PP Singh, Sqn Ldr CR Mehta, Sqn Ldr VC Godwin, Navigators Ahluwalia and S Kapoor.

My painting “Tuskers raid Peshawar” was inspired by the account I read in the book “The India-Pakistan Air War of 1965” by Jagan/Samir duo.   So it was initially composed entirely on impressions created in my mind of the attack as it was narrated in the book.   I was very fortunate to have received more inputs from Capt Vivian Goodwin who was one of the members of this fateful raid of 1965 war. I am also glad that Canberra gang of veterans has appreciated my painting. I am told that they are an extremely close knit lot and thick as thieves. It was wonderful to interact with few of them through e mail and very sincerely hope the painting evokes some memory for those remaining ‘Few good men’ of 5 Squadron and JBCU of September 1965.

IAF Gnat Vs PAF Sabrejet

These two legendary fighters came face to face for the first time over Indian skies in September 1965. Sabrejet was a combat proven platform with hundreds of kills to its credit in the Korean War of early 1950s.  In this war US Air Force claimed 792 MiGs for loss of 78 Sabrejets, a phenomenal 10:1 ratio in favour of Sabrejets. On the contrary, Folland Gnat developed in UK was not even flown as a fighter in its parent country. Gnat armed with two 30 mm cannons should have been no match to a larger and heavier Sabrejet armed with six .50 Browning machine guns and 2 x AIM 9B Sidewinder missile. This aircraft was specially designed for dog fight with slats and slots that gave it an unmatched turning performance especially at low speeds and high angles of attack. Yet in both 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan Gnat proved to be quite the nemesis.

Gnat earned its nickname “Sabre Slayers” after an epic air battle between three PAF Sabrejets and four Gnats over Boyra (in erstwhile East Pakistan) on 22 November 1971. Four IAF Gnats were ordered to scramble from Dumdum airport, Calcutta to take on four Sabres intruding the Indian territory. In an air to air battle that is still considered as one of the top five aerial combats of military aviation in the world, Gnats shot down three Sabres. The IAF formation leader, Flight Lieutenant Roy Andrews Massey; Flight Lieutenant M. A. Ganapathy and Flying Officer D.Lazarus each got one Sabre. Flight Lieutenant Massey’s Sabre crashed into a pond in Chaugacha on the East Pakistani side of the border, while the other two went down over Indian territory. Flt. Lt. Parvez Mehdi Qureshi and Fg Offr Khalil Ahmed, the two PAF pilots who ejected over India were captured and produced before a crowded press conference the next day. This encounter set the tone of the air battles that were to follow. News of the incident and the famous gun camera shots were splashed across newspaper headlines the world over and the tiny Gnat acquired a reputation of being the “Sabre killer”.

This painting is a tribute to my instructor late Wing Commander Massey. His friends fondly called   him “Mouse” as he stood tall at just 5’2”. As cadets we tried our level best to get him to narrate his account of these vivid moments of war. So modest a man he was that he almost felt shy to be called a national hero. Just prior to passing out from Fighter Training Wing, Hakimpet all flight cadets were treated to a drink in the bar by our instructors. Over a drink we cornered “Mouse” and this time he did relent. In next few gripping minutes he recounted his part of the story where he was all praise for his adversary who as per him fought gallantly after finding the Gnat on his rear quarter. It was a classic case of “one versus one” where each tries to get behind the other for a gunshot. Pakistani pilot tried every tactic in the book to throw off the Gnat from his tail.  But Massey was no greenhorn and fight continued at low level with Gnat gradually getting better of its adversary. It was battle of wits where loser would have to pay with his life. The Pakistani either panicked or his fuel state may have gone too low. He started making mistakes and for a brief moment Massey got a chance to bear his sight steady on the Sabrejet. He pressed the trigger and Gnat’s two 30 mm Aden guns thundered firing 1200 rounds per minute into the air.   Sabrejet was seen going down bellowing smoke. By  then Ganapathy and Don Lazarus had already got their kills. Massey decided not to pursue any more as  battle has been won squarely and convincingly. He also confided that he wanted the aircraft, not the pilot.  The formation landed safely with three confirmed kills for no loss of their own. 

Tangail Airdrop: Indo-Pak War 1971

On 11 Dec 71, Indian Air Force conducted an airdrop of troops which is considered the largest airborne assault operation in the post World War II period. 700 troops were dropped by 50 transport aircraft consisting of Dakotas, AN-12s, Packets and Caribous over an area known as Tangail in erstwhile East Pakistan aimed at cutting down the advance of enemy troops into Dacca before final of surrender of Pakistani forces on 16 December 1971.  The first soldier parachuted down at 4:30 PM and by 7:00 PM all 700 troops landed and regrouped to achieve their objective without a single casualty or a mishap.

This painting shows Dakotas then based at Jorhat that took part as pathfinders in the operations.      

My painting on dog fight between Indian and Pakistani Air Force fighters over Kalaikunda (Kharagpur, West Bengal) in 1965 Indo-Pak war.

                On 7^th September 1965, Pakistani fighters based at East Pakistan launched a successful pre-emptive attack on our Kalaikunda airbase located at West Bengal (near Kharagpur). The Pakistani attack carried out in early morning hours had achieved full element of surprise to  set ablaze two Canberra bombers and few Vampire jets that were parked on ground. Tasting success, second wave of four Pakistani jets came to attack Kalaikunda at around 1030 hours. However, this time it was the Pakistani pilot’s turn to be surprised. Two of our Hunter fighters piloted by Flight Lieutenant Alfred Cooke and Flying Officer Mamgain were patrolling the sky between Dumdum (Calcutta) and Kalaikunda. They were immediately   directed to intercept the incoming raid. In a prolonged air combat at tree top levels between four Pakistani raiders, Cooke and Mamgain brought down one aircraft each in full view of people on ground. Cooke then latched on to the third Pakistani aircraft but by then he had finished all his ammunition. Pakistan while acknowledging their loss of two aircraft had stated that their formation was attacked by superior force of nine Indian fighters.  This itself was a tribute to courage and bravery of our pilots who challenged a numerically superior force and came out as clear winners.

                Alfred Cooke settled down at Australia in 1967 and has been keeping in touch with his squadron (14 Squadron) till date.  

                This painting of mine is an attempt to recreate the dog fight between Cooke and Pakistani pilot Flight Lieutenant Afzal Khan, who unfortunately did not survive the crash.  

                Click on the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQVRnQnpZwM&feature=player_embedded to watch a video made by two civilian enthusiasts. One of them was a student  of IIT, Kharagpur in September 1965 who had watched the dog fight live from ground. 

Pakistani attackers shot down over Punjab : Indo-Pak War 1965

This painting depicts a classic encounter between fighters of Indian Air Force (IAF) and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) over Indian sky on 06 September 1965. Three Sabre jets of PAF had come to attack IAF airfield of Halwara (near Ludhiana). Defending the airbase were four Hunter fighters of IAF.  Initially Pakistani raiders were able to successfully attack our ground installations but as they proceeded with their attack on the airfield, two of our Hunters pounced on them. In the air combat that followed at extreme low levels between the opposing forces, Flight Lieutenant DN Rathore of IAF shot down the lead Sabre jet and Flying Officer VK Neb shot down the second Sabre. Paki pilot who was shot down by Rathore was Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui. Pakistan decorated Rafiqui with their highest gallantry award and named one of its main airbase after him.  Rathore  was  decorated with a Vir Chakras after the war and later rose to become an Air Marshal. Neb fought again in 1971 and shot down another Pakistani Sabre and was awarded with a bar to his Vir Chakra earned in 1965 war. 

Mystere Vs Starfighter : A story of incredible heroism of an IAF pilot over Sargodha in Indo- Pak war 1965

In this painting I tried to recreate unmatched gallantry of a  young Indian pilot who unfortunately did not return from a raid over Sargodha, Pakistan,  on 7^th  September 1965.

Squadron Leader A.B.Devayya  was  part of a large formation of Mysteres of No. 1 Squadron,  attacking Sargodha at the crack of dawn. Owing to the extreme range of the target, only a single pass attack was possible.  It was suicidal to even undertake such a mission as minor navigational error could result in entire formation running out of fuel in the enemy territory. Also, for most pilots it was their first mission deep inside enemy territory. 

Defending the PAF airbase were few US made F-86 Sabres and F-104 Starfighters, both aircraft far superior to subsonic Mysteres that IAF had acquired from France in mid fifties.

Mysteres reached their target on time and as they pulled up for attack all hell turned loose with heavy anti aircraft fire opening up. Each pilot now concentrated to deliver his weapon accurately on the intended target.   Lady luck seemed to favour them and they came out of the attack almost unscathed. As every member ducked to ultra low levels at full speed in the homebound course, Devayya joined in after his attack as the last aircraft in the trail.    

 Flight Lieutenant Amjad Hussain, the lone PAF pilot flying a Starfighter was vectored by the radar to intercept the Mysteres  as they were getting away.  He positioned behind the last Mystere for a missile attack which happened to be Devayya .  What happened subsequently can only be pieced together by some contradictory accounts available from Pakistani source. None of the members of Devayya’s formation was aware of this attack developing on their tails.   

From the accounts published in  books and articles in Pakistan, IAF  could reconstruct  what now can be termed as an incredible act of heroism by an airman who decided to stand up and fight when this  should have been the last option to exercise for a pilot who had barely enough fuel to land back home and was hundreds of miles inside the enemy territory.

It is now believed beyond doubt that Devayya after being shot at and his aircraft damaged by the lethal cannon fired from the Starfighter, turned around to challenge his adversary in a ‘fight to finish’ like a true gladiator. In the classic air battle that followed between the vintage Mystere and the state of the art, supersonic Starfighter, Devayya managed to turn the tables in his favour and hunter became the hunted.  Devayya’s bullets tore into the Starfighter causing a control failure, forcing Amjad Hussein to eject from his aircraft. Amjad barely survived the ejection at low level. He was awarded the “Sitara-i-Jur’at”, Star of Courage, the third highest military award in Pakistan soon after the war. Devayya was put on the list of “Missing believed Killed” after the war. What lead to his actual death still remains a mystery. It was revealed much later by Pakistan that Devayya’s body was found almost intact by villagers not very far from Sargodha and buried.  It is quite possible that Devayya’s Mystere finally went out of control forcing him to abandon it at low level. Unfortunately, ejection seat fitted in a Mystere was not designed for safe operation at low levels.

Devayya’s act of gallantry would have gone unknown and unrecognised by his countrymen had it not been for the Pakistani account that acknowledged the extreme courage of this young Indian pilot.  Some 23 years later Devayya was decorated by Indian Government with a Maha Vir Chakra posthumously, country’s second highest gallantry award.

Air Commodore Kaiser Tufail , a retired officer of PAF in his book, “Great Air Battles of Pakistan Air Force”, had summarised the encounter between Devayya and Amjad Hussain as below :-

  

For many decades the famous dogfight has confounded historians and air enthusiasts alike. The respective Air Forces cited both pilots for courage as well as their shooting skills. Flt Lt Amjad Hussain was awarded the Sitara-i-Jur’at soon after the war. Sqn Ldr Ajjamada Bopayya Devayya was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra in April 1988, after a passage of 23 years. ......... it can be said that the medals are testimony to the dogged determination of two air knights, who gave their best in this truly classic duel.

John Fricker, an American defence analyst, in his book on air operations in Indo – Pak war of 1965,    also mentions that, “.....  shooting down in air combat of a Lockheed Starfighter of the PAF by and obsolescent Dassault Mystere IVA...is among the most creditable and least published achievements by IAF during the 1965 war..”

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Pakistani Raider Shot Down Over Saurashtra Coast : Indo –Pak War 1971

On 12 December 1971 two US made supersonic Starfighters of Pakistan Air Force came to attack a vital Indian Air Force base located at Jamnagar, Gujarat at low levels. As they crossed the Indian coast line our early warning system picked them up. Two MiG-21 fighters on operational readiness platform were launched to intercept the raiders. As the Pakistani bandits approached over Jamnagar town they were spotted by the MiGs and immediately positioned behind for a classic intercept. Realising the threat from the MiGs, Pakistani fighters turned homeward, descended to 100 feet and accelerated to near supersonic speed. MiGs gave chase and closed in for a kill over the sea off Saurashtra coast. One Pakistani jet was shot down that went up in flames and crashed into the sea below. Its pilot was seen ejecting falling slowly under a bright orange canopy into the Gulf of Kutch. Second Pakistani jet managed to escape.

This painting is the artist’s impression of the shooting down of the Starfighter by IAF pilot, Flight Lieutenant BB Soni. He was awarded with a Vir Chakra by Government of India for his galantry and valour in face of enemy. 

Attack on Government House, Dacca - 1971 Indo-Pakistan conflict

  On 16 December 2012 “Victory Day” was celebrated by two countries...India and Bangladesh. On this very day in 1971, General Niazi, the Supreme Commander of the Pakistan Military in East Pakistan surrendered to the Indian Defence Forces along with 93,000 troops. Unfortunately the decisive role IAF played in this unprecedented victory is not known to many.

Two days before this surrender, four MiG-21s airborne from Guwahati attacked  the Government House at Dacca, then official residence of AM Malik, Head of the East Pakistan Government. Inside the building East Pakistan’s Cabinet had begun an emergency meeting to discuss the political measures to avoid the looming surrender of their army at Dacca.  Exactly 55 minutes after the meeting began, 128 rockets fired by the MiG Formation hit the Government House with deadly precision. It turned out to be the last-ever meeting of the Cabinet. AM Malik,  survived the attack along with his Cabinet – but resigned on the spot. According to an UN official who happened to be with Governor at that time, Mr. Malik said a small prayer, and then produced a small paper on which he wrote down his resignation with trembling hands. . It seems the rocket attack had proved to be the proverbial last straw on the camel's back.   Among the burning ruins; the nervous system, as it were, of decision-making had been instantly destroyed. 

Air Chief Marshal PC Lal in his brief to the press had later stated that after the surrender,  Niazi was asked as to why he packed off so quickly with 93000 troops after having made a very definite statement on the 13th evening about defending Dacca for months. He was unable to speak at that time, possibly for emotion or the lack of ability to speak. But he turned around and pointed to the Wings of our Air Force Officers.

.........This painting on the Governors’ House in Dhaka is a tribute to all those brave airmen who brought glory to the nation with their valour and grit and to remind us each day of the IAF motto...  Touch the Sky with Glory!!

(Today this a sprawling colonial era building in the middle of Dhaka is the official residence of President of Bangladesh and known as Bongabhabon !!)

This is first of my painting on aviation art and it recreates an all important photo reconnaissance mission flown by Flying Utpal Barbora in the build up phase of 1965 Indo-Pakistan conflict. The photographic evidence brought by this mission was able to prove to the world for the first time use of American weapons by Pakistanis against Indian forces, the same weapons that were given as aid to Pakistan by their American bosses to fight the Communists. Flying Officer Utpal Barbora was awarded a Vir Chakra for going beyond call of duty to fly this mission by putting his life in peril. 

On 26 April 1965, while on an armament training detachment at Jamnagar, Gujarat, Flying Officer Utpal Barbora got chance to fly his first operational mission in war. His task was to fly a FR mission over Pakistani army that had mounted an attack against one of our company positions in Biar Bet area of Kutch. The task was to collect evidence of the presence of Pakistani armour in this area and use of tanks by Pakistani forces that were supplied by America with strict riders not to use them against India. Such evidence was of vital importance since Pakistan had denied use of American tanks in battle. Before him other aircraft like Canberra that had dedicated photo role had flown over the target area with no result. 

When Flying Officer Barbara escorted by another Vampire from the same squadron arrived over the target area, he saw the entire area below him covered in a dense layer of dust and smoke. He immediately realised that cameras fitted in his aircraft would not be able to see anything through the haze layer if flown at medium levels, as was instructed during pre flight briefing. Descending through the haze was too risky as flying at ultra low levels at high speeds required ground to be in perfect contact. There was also danger of being caught in the crossfire of the artillery duel between the Pakistani forces and our troops at low levels.   

  

Fully aware of the risks, Flying Officer Barbara decided to descend to low level. Soon the ground was whizzing past as he descended lower and lower in search of enemy.  As he descended to almost 100 feet above ground level all of a sudden something that resembled an enemy tank went past him bellowing dust and smoke.  On pressed a little lower he spotted almost 15 Pakistani tanks that appeared to be advancing towards Indian positions.

 Flying Officer Barbara realised that he found what he and the whole nation was looking for and that is irrefutable evidence of Pakistani forces using American arms against India. He made a single level pass over the tanks with all cameras on. He was not too sure of resolution of photos taken at such low light conditions.  Throwing all caution to wind, Flying Officer Barbara made repeated passes over the tanks. For enemy soldiers on ground the entire hell broke loose and they were seen running helter-skelter for cover in all directions. As a disciplined soldier he held back his urge and temptation to fire on enemy. His objective achieved, Flying Officer Barbara returned to his base at safe and sound.

Analysis of the photographs confirmed that Pakistan had used foreign tanks inside Indian Territory despite the assurance given to the international communities. This refutable proof forced the Pakistani forces to withdraw from inside Indian Territory.

In this very dangerous and sensitive mission Flying Officer Utpal Barbara displayed courage, determination and professional skill of a high order in the best traditions of the Air Force and he was awarded the gallantry award of Vir Chakra by the grateful nation. 

Aviation Art

The Magnificent Flying Machine...Dakota 

The Douglas DC-3 revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made. The major military version was designated the C-47 Skytrain, of which more than 10,000 were produced. Many DC-3s and converted C-47s are still used in all parts of the world.

It first flew on December 17, 1935.  Production of civil DC-3s ceased in 1942; military versions were produced until the end of the war in 1945. In all total 16,079 DC-3/C-47s were built.  The aircraft's legendary ruggedness and its ability to take off and land on grass or dirt runways made it extremely popular in developing countries, where runways were not always paved. Some of the uses of the DC-3 have included aerial spraying, freight transport, passenger service, military transport, missionary flying, and sport skydiving shuttling and sightseeing.

Possibly its most influential role in military aviation, however, was flying "The Hump" from India into China. The expertise gained flying "The Hump" was later be used in the Berlin Airlift, in which the C-47 played a major role.  In September 1944, allied forces under General Montgomery launched “Operation Market Garden”, the largest airborne operation in history that had delivered over 34,600 men into the German occupied Europe with a combined force of 1,438 C-47/Dakotas.

After World War II thousands of surplus C-47s were converted to civil airline use, some remaining in operation in 2013 as well as being used as private aircraft.

Dakotas in IAF

Dakotas, fondly referred to as the Gooney bird was the first major transport aircraft inducted into the fledgling Indian Air Force way back in 1945. No.12 Squadron was the first unit to reequip with this aircraft.  It became the workhorse for the IAF remaining in the forefront of operations for the next four decades.

Service of Dakotas in IAF: some excerpts of the book “My years with the IAF” by ACM PC Lal

In October 1947 Pakistan launched “Operation Gulmarg” to take over Kashmir by a force of 15,000 trained tribal Pathans under the clarion call of Jehad. By 24^th October they were 35 miles west of Srinagar. Maharaja Hari Singh finally lost all illusion of an independent Kashmir and late at night asked for Indian help. The Maharajah signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947. Kashmir had to be saved from advancing Pakistani marauders.

Srinagar Operation

 It was an impossible situation as Army would have taken days to reach Srinagar through a poorly maintained road through Jammu (actual road connection from undivided India to Kashmir was from Rawalpindi). Hence there was no other way to render help but and airlift of troops. Task was fraught with danger at every step as airstrip at Srinagar was short and unpaved that was made to operate only small, light personal aircraft of the Maharajah. Only aircraft that the IAF could use to airlift the troops at that time were Dakotas with their limited ceiling capacity. There was no landing aids, no crash tenders and no proper refuelling facilities. The Government of India were not even sure that the enemy was not already at the airport.... 28 sorties were flown on the very first day of the operation,  that is on the 27^th. ..within five days a full brigade was airlifted...Dakotas did the entire transportation. Advance of the Pakistani marauders towards Srinagar was halted.

Saving of Poonch- a saga  of courage, tenacity and guts

...when Indian troops managed to reach Poonch, the enemy were already well dug-in on all the hills around to lay a siege.  Poonch was a hilly area and did not have even an airstrip. So supplies had to be air dropped. Part of these vital supplies were lost as they could not be recovered in that very restricted area. So Army set about making an airstrip without any mechanical equipment on the J&K militia parade ground. A 600 yards airstrip was made ready in six days on the flat top of a hill with rivers running on three sides and a precipice on the fourth.  Air Cmde Meher Singh landed the first Dakota carrying AVM Subroto Mukherjee and large load of essential supplies....subsequently Army wanted two twenty-five pounder guns as enemy was firing at their positions with field guns. Dakotas carrying these heavy guns found it extremely difficult to land by day as enemy was lobbing shells at the airstrip. Air Cmde Mehar Singh, therefore, delivered them by flying a Dakota at night with help of few oil lamps. Meher Baba, the nicknamed he earned from his friends and close associates, converted some Dakotas with his imaginative imagination to carry and deliver bombs.

(Saving of Poonch is a glorious chapter of heroism in the history of No. 12 Squadron).

Landing at Leh

Battle for Kashmir shifted eastward towards Ladakh...enemy was making steady ground towards Leh and blocked Zojila pass, closing the only road link between Srinagar and Leh.... On 24 May 1948, taking Maj Gen KS Thimaya, GOC 19 Div as his passenger Meher Baba negotiated the mountains at 24,000 feet in his ancient Dakota, with no de-icing facilities, no pressurisation, no route maps, he reached Leh height 11,500 ft above sea level and put his aircraft down deftly on an improvised strip constructed by a Ladakhi engineer....in next few days Dakotas of No. 12 Squadron airlifted enough troops and material to be ready when enemy arrived.

.....The story of Kashmir operations would have been very different if it were not for the Air Force...(Dakotas).

 Dakotas in 1962 Operations

IAF’s role in this operation against Chinese incursion was limited to carrying of troops and supplies....The tribals of NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh) had seen Dakotas but they had not seen much motor – transport at that time of even bicycles for that matter.  

Workhorse of IAF

Though transport fleet of IAF was bolstered significantly after 1962 through inductions of Fairchild Packets from USA, AN-12 s from Soviet Union, De Havilland Carbous from Canada, bulk of air droppings of supplies, particularly in the remote areas in the Eastern sector were undertaken by Dakotas based at Jorhat. Dakotas took prominent part in 1965 and 1971 wars airlifting troops and equipment and airdropping of essential supplies. Perhaps one of the most sterling moments of Dakota operation in IAF was its role played in the Tangail airdrop of 1971 war of Bangladesh liberation. It was the largest airborne operation in the world after Operation Market Garden. This airdrop operation involved An-12, C-119s, 2 Caribous and Dakotas from 11 sqn and 48 Sqn.  

Dakotas were de-commissioned from IAF in ........., curtains finally coming down on a glorious chapter of more than 40 years in service.