New Delhi:

Air Marshal AP Singh succeeded Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari as the new Air Force chief today. Before assuming the charge, he served as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff since February 2023.

Born on October 27, 1964, Mr Singh was commissioned into the fighter pilot stream of the Air Force in 1984. During a service spanning nearly 40 years, he has served in a variety of Command, Staff, Instructional and Foreign appointments.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College, the Air Officer is a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Experimental Test Pilot with more than 5,000 hours of flying experience on a variety of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft.

During his career, he has also commanded an operational fighter squadron and a frontline air base.

As a test pilot, he led the MiG-29 Upgrade Project Management Team in Moscow, Russia. He was also the Project Director (Flight Test) at the National Flight Test Centre and was tasked with flight testing of the Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas.

He has held important staff appointments of Air Defence Commander at South Western Air Command and Senior Air Staff Officer at Eastern Air Command. Prior to assuming the charge of Vice Chief of the Air Staff, he was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command.

He is also a recipient of the “Param Vishisht Seva” Medal and the “Ati Vishisht Seva” Medal.

Sulur:

Tarang Shakti, the IAF organised multinational exercise that will see the participation of air force units including from Germany and France got underway on Tuesday and will see a number of advanced fighters and other aircraft taking to the skies as part of the various simulated scenario.

Simulated scenario, including electronic warfare, would be part of the exercise being held in this western city, about 500 km from Chennai, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said “…we have at least six different types of IAF aircraft flying alongside the Eurofighter Typhoons and Rafale from the visiting countries…we have also simulated electronic warfare environment, we simulate radars, we simulate air defences and operate in some sort of a network environment against multiple kinds of opposition in every mission.” “The whole idea is to be able to operate- you are aware that we are without a common data link with the visiting Air Forces, so we need to operate without a datalink. That itself is a very complex exercise. The main focus will be on what we call the large force engagements where large numbers of formations will be operating together,” the Air chief told reporters.

This would be the first such exercise being conducted by the IAF in about six decades.

The top official pointed out that over the years, the Indian Air Force has been having a lot of bilateral exercises with partners and friendly countries, including the Royal Air Force, the Air Forces of the US, France and Singapore.

According to the IAF, EX Tarang Shakti 24 is the “first multinational exercise being hosted,” by it.

This exercise will bring together India’s Friendly Foreign Countries (FFCs) Germany, Spain, France and the United Kingdom at the Southern Air Command’s flying station here, promoting international cooperation and enhancing collective security capabilities.

Eurofighter Typhoons from Germany, Spain and the UK, Rafales from France, refuellers and heavy military transport from these countries will be participating in the exercise that will go on till August 13.

Besides, IAF’s SU-30MKI, Rafale,Tejas, Mirage, Mig 29 K (Indian Navy) and heavy military transport aircraft C-130 will be participating.

During the exercise, a range of operations including mutual exchange sorties, large and small force engagements and various other missions have been planned to benefit all participating countries, it said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO) yesterday organised an event to honour the Air Force personnel on the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

The event highlighted the significance of Kargil Vijay Diwas as a celebration of the “indomitable spirit” of the Indian Air Force, which played a pivotal role in securing India’s victory in the Kargil War.

Retired Squadron Leader Archana Kapoor Archana Kapoor, one of the first women pilots in the Indian Air Force, recounted her inspiring journey and experiences during the Kargil War.

Air Veteran Group Captain Nitin Welde, a gallantry award recipient with over 5,000 hours of flying experience, also shared his remarkable experiences.

The memory of the 1999 Kargil War remains fresh in the minds of ex-servicemen who battled the harsh conditions of high-altitude terrain and the constant threat of enemy fire to secure India’s victory

Kargil Vijay Diwas, observed annually on July 26, commemorates the success of Operation Vijay in 1999. During this conflict, Indian forces successfully reclaimed strategic positions in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir that had been infiltrated by Pakistani soldiers and terrorists.

A view shows damaged buildings at the site of a Russian drone strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine on April 23, 2024. Photo: Mayor of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov via Telegram, via Reuters

Russia launched a drone attack on Ukraine that injured nine people in the Black Sea port of Odesa, four of them children, and also targeted Kyiv, the capital, Ukraine’s military officials said early on April 23.

The injured children, which include two infants, have been hospitalised, as well as three of the injured adults, the Governor of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Several residential buildings in the city were damaged and caught fire, he said. At least 14 apartments were damaged, the City Administration added.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 16 attack drones targeting Ukraine and two short-range Iskander ballistic missiles.

Air Defence systems destroyed 15 of the drones over Ukraine’s southern regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv, the central region of Cherkasy and the capital region of Kyiv, the Air Force said on Telegram. It did not say what happened to the missiles.

All the drones Russia launched on Kyiv were destroyed, Serhiy Popko, the head of the capital’s military administration, said on Telegram, adding that there were no reports of damage or injuries from the attack.

Also on Telegram, Mykolaiv’s Governor, Vitaly Kim, said wreckage from a downed drone damaged a commercial infrastructure building.

New Delhi:

In a historic first, four units of the Indian Air Force will receive the prestigious ‘President’s Standard and Colours’ from President Droupadi Murmu at the Hindon airbase on March 8.

President Murmu will be awarding the President’s Standard to 45 Squadron and 221 Squadron and the President’s Colours to 11 Base Repair Depot and 509 Signal Unit, the defence ministry said.

This will be the first time in the history of the IAF that four units will be awarded President’s Standard and Colours together, it said.

The award of the President’s Standard and Colours is the highest military honour for any armed forces unit. The four units selected for the coveted awards have made stellar contributions to IAF’s history.

The 221 squadron is known as the ‘Valiants’. The history of the squadron dates back to 14 Feb 1963 when it was raised at Barrackpore, equipped with Vampire aircraft.

Barely two years after its formation, the Squadron was pressed into action in the Eastern theatre during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, where it made commendable contributions to the overall war effort.

In August 1968, the squadron was one of the first to be re-equipped with the Su-7 supersonic attack fighter.

During the 1971 Indo-Pak War, operating in the Eastern theatre, the squadron undertook extensive counter air, close air support and photo reconnaissance missions.

The famed attack over the Kurmitola and Tezgaon airbases resulted in the destruction of several Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Sabres on the ground and proved to be pivotal in rendering the PAF ineffective in the Eastern theatre.

The 45 squadron is also called the ‘Flying Daggers’. Raised in 1959 with Vampire aircraft, the squadron took part in ‘Operation Vijay’ for the liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule in 1960.

On August 1, 1965, Pakistan launched an attack in the Chhamb sector with overwhelming superiority in troops and armour. The 45 squadron was the first IAF unit to launch offensive missions on the first day of the conflict.

Despite flying the vintage Vampires, the raw courage and professionalism of the pilots was enough to stall the enemy armour and the unit destroyed ten enemy tanks.

Subsequently, ‘Flying Daggers’ flew 178 sorties in support of the Indian Army. After the war, the unit was re-equipped with MiG-21 FL fighters.

In the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the unit was responsible for air defence in Punjab and Rajasthan sectors, flying 258 missions, which were instrumental in safeguarding the forward air bases against enemy air attacks.

In 1982, the unit was equipped with the MiG-21 Bis aircraft.

11 Base Repair Depot is a premier and only fighter aircraft base repair depot of the IAF that was established under Maintenance Command in April 1974 at Ojhar, Nashik.

Su-7 was the first aircraft to be overhauled by the Depot and, in the subsequent years, variants of MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-29 aircraft have been overhauled.

The 509 signal unit was established on March 1, 1965, and is presently functioning as an Air Defence Direction Centre in Meghalaya.

The unit has been functioning with the THD 1955 radar since 1995.

The watershed moments in the unit’s history date back to the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, wherein 509 SU emerged as the epicentre of all air defence activities over East Pakistan.

A defining moment came with the precision strike on the Governor’s House in Dhaka, orchestrated from the operations room of the unit.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)