SOUTH WESTERN AIR COMMAND –GANDHINAGAR -2000 HRS
Air officer commanding south western air command looked once again at the large number of satellite imagery showing massive accumulation of Pakistani armor along the international border. It was obvious this was no exercise and the situation was surely critical . While army was ready for any sudden outbreak of hostility the location of possible thrust can never be known till the last moment and then it may be too late for effective use of strike air power
He believed in the age old proverb –offense is always the best form of defense .
Just now the formal clearance has come in from the air headquarters allowing him to involve all the resources at his disposal in one single decisive strike to neutralize the war fighting potential of the enemy .He had 24 hrs to put the operation in motion and then wait for the final clearance from PMO via vayu sena bhavan before sending the war birds of his command into air
Air vice marshal sodhi picked up the digitally scramble intercom to staff officer and asked for quick base commanders conference in 6 hours time .
His next call was to base repair depots and put them on war time alert –all leaves cancelled
And finally he called up the aero space command hub in jodhpur –making some special requests
OPERATION DESSERT THUNDER was now in motion
Jai Shree Varte Veeram, meaning victory garlands the gallant, is a bye word to the soul and spirit of one of the most operational commands of the Indian Air Force, the South Western Air Command.
Originally established as No 1 Operational Group at Jodhpur on 21 Sep 1972, it was subsequently rechristened as the South Western Air Command on 23 Jul 1980. The operational area, carved out of the Western Air Command, included most of Rajasthan and the entire Gujarat. he crest of the South Western Air Command depicts the national emblem on the top as a pendant of a garland of flowers with "Dakshin Paschim Vayu Kaman" encrypted inside in a semi circle. The centre is adorned by a dagger with wings. At the base, under the inscription 'Bharatiya Vayu Sena', is a scroll with the command motto "Jai Shree Varte Veeram".
In a major expansion in the mid eighties, the units located at Pune and Mumbai were transferred from Central Air Command.
Goa area of Southern Air Command was also added to the jurisdiction of this Command. Thus, the entire south western area of the country came under the air defence umbrella of SWAC. Keeping in view the increasing operational importance of the command, it was decided by Air HQ to move the Command Headquarters from Jodhpur to Gandhinagar. The new HQ was inaugurated on 01 May 1998by the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Keshubhai Patel. The grand ceremony held on the occasion included a fly past by fighters and helicopters, an aerobatics display by SU-30 and Surya Kiran aircraft and a free fall display by the Akash Ganga para-jumping team.
SWAC was converted from the No.1 Ops Group of WAC which was then located at Jodhpur. In May 1998, it moved its HQ to Gandhinagar. It controls air operations in the south western air sector, which includes most of Rajasthan, and south through Gujarat to Saurashtra, and Kutch to Pune. Because SWAC has no sensitive adjacent areas, its task has been largely air defence, however, it is now reported to have a strike mission profile. South Western Air Command features permanent airbases at Bhuj, Jaisalmer, Nalia, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Barmer and Poona with forward airbases at Ahmedabad, Nal, Suratgarh and Uttarlai. The SWAC features air defence squadrons consisting of the MiG-21, MiG-29 and Su-30. The ground attack squadrons consist of the MiG-21 and the MiG-23. SWAC also has a maritime attack squadron, which consists of the Jaguar IM
he multi-role strike fighter squadrons of Sukhoi 30MKI, which had moved out of Lohegaon Air Force station have now returned in style - after a successful Red Flag exercise in the US. In the next few months, the fleet will be enforced with a third squadron, making it one of the strongest airbases in the western region.
Although the squadrons returned from Jodhpur a few weeks ago Saturday's comeback was more apt following the multinational air exercise in the US.
The Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of South Western Air Command (SWAC), Air Marshal K.D. Singh said that the Lohegaon Air Force base will get a new Su-30 MKI squadron by Dec 2009. Currently, the Lohegaon Air Force base has two squadrons of Su-30 MKI, 'Lightnings' and 'Rhinos'.
The Su-30 MKIs will roll out from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited factory at Nasik. Recently, the Jaguar Squadron was shifted and located to Jamnagar airbase in Gujarat for strategic reasons. "Pune was primarily developed as a base for the Sukhois and a lot of investment has gone into this," said another Air Force officer.
On Saturday afternoon a batch of four Sukhoi 30 MKIs arrived, flying side-by-side, then peeling off one by one, signalling their arrival after a successful mission at Exercise Red Flag at Nellis US Air Force base in Nevada.
The team comprised eight Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, two IL-78 mid-air refuellers, one IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft and about 250 air warriors (90 among them were officers). They pitted their skills against American F-15s and F-16s, as well as French Rafale fighters and South Korean F-15K jets.
Air Marshal K.D. Singh welcomed the IAF's top-gun pilots as Sukhois returned to Pune from Abu Dhabi - their last stopover - while the other aircraft went back to their respective units. Also present was NDA Commandant Air Marshal T.S. Randhawa, who is the Commodore Commandant of the no 20 squadron (Lightnings).
An elated group leader Wing Commander George Thomas said, "It was a great training opportunity for IAF to integrate our assets in an adverse environment thousands of miles away along with a country (USA) which is technologically quite advanced."
"Each mission was done to perfection. The main thrust of the exercise was on training. The threat environment was tailored to what your needs are - air, ground, space and water," he said.
It was a triumphant return for the Indian Air Force (IAF) team, which impressed the mighty US in this two-week exercise, indicating that more such wargames could be in the offing on a regular basis. It was one of the rare occasions in the 33-year-old history of the Red Flag that an invitation was extended to a non-NATO nation and the first time the IAF participated.
Air Marshal Singh said: "We would like to have more such exercises. But it's a decision taken at the government level."
Giving details about the exercise, Wg Cmdr Thomas said, "During this phase, a present-day air campaign was replicated, in which opposition forces or the 'Aggressors' F-16 and F-15s, were threats to the Blue Land (IAF) and its forces.
"The tasks are carried out by 'Strike Packages' comprising Su30s flying along with the US Air Force, French Air Force and Korean Air Force.
"The main challenge during the exercise for the team IAF was to adapt to the USAF network and also carry out 'Stand Alone' tasks simultaneously. Our young IAF pilots (average age: late 20s) have done this with amazing dexterity," he said.
The exercise was preceded by two weeks of work-up training at the Mountain Home Air Force Base of the US. The IAF flew over 200 so
Since i guess it will be their premium air dominance weapon, to be used in countering our SU-30MKI...
good work Mr. Sharma keep it coming....I hope Mr. Ahuja and Shankarda are doing alright...Cheers.
