IAF Base | Business Upturn

Two IAF pilots killed as trainer aircraft crashes in Telangana; Court of Inquiry ordered

United News of India (UNI) — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 09:39:35 +0000

Medak, (Telangana), Dec 4 : In a tragic incident, two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots were killed after the Pilatus PC 7 MK II trainer aircraft crashed near Toopran in Medak district on Monday.

The trainer aircraft crashed during a routine training sortie from Air Force Academy (AFA), Dundigal here.

In a post on ‘X’, IAF said ‘A Pilatus PC 7 Mk II aircraft met with an accident today morning during a routine training sortie from AFA, Hyderabad.

It is with deep regret that the IAF confirms both pilots onboard the aircraft sustained fatal injuries. No damage to any civil life or property has been reported.

A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.’

Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit is new Deputy Chief of IAF

United News of India (UNI) — Mon, 15 May 2023 13:07:41 +0000

New Delhi, May 15: Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit has taken over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he was Commissioned in the fighter stream on December 6, 1986. He is a graduate of the Staff Course, Bangladesh and National Defence College, New Delhi.

The Air Marshal is a Qualified Flying Instructor as well as an Experimental Test pilot, with over 3,300 hours of flying experience on fighter, trainer and transport aircraft. He participated in Operation Safed Sagar and Rakshak, a statement said.

Air Marshal Dixit commanded a Mirage 2000 Squadron, a frontline fighter base in the Western sector, as well as a premier fighter training base. He has earlier served as Principal Director Air Staff Requirement, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects) & Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans) at Air Headquarters.

The Air Officer has also been the Air Defence Commander of Southern Air Command and was Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command prior to taking over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, it added.

IAF to phase out MiG-21 squadron by September & entire fleet by 2025

Pranay Maniar — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 11:19:13 +0000

Amid the recent crash of MiG-21 in Barmer district of Rajasthan that killed both pilots Flight Lieutenant A Bal and Wing Commander Rana. A source from the IAF said that the airforce is planning to retire a squadron on 30^th September.

The IAF is keen on hanging the boots for these Soviet-era jets as many of them are over 40 years old and have a nasty record of 400 crashes that have killed over 200 pilots in the past 60 years of their service.

In the last 20 months, 6 MiG-21’s have crashed killing 5 pilots.

IAF to retire MiG-21 squadron

This IAF aircraft has earned the nicknames “flying coffin” and “widow maker” for its high crash rates.

A squadron is a group of 12-18 aircraft.

On the 30^th of September, the 51^st Squadron, nicknamed “The Strong Arms” is said to be retired.

“The number-plated squadron would be reactivated soon with a more capable aircraft in the near future”, the officials said

The squadron is based out of Srinagar Airforce Station. This is the same squadron that thwarted Pakistan’s Operation Swift Retort which was a retaliation to the IAF’s Balakot Airstrike.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Vartaman (Now Group Captain) was flying a MiG-21 of the same squadron that shot down a Pakistani F-16 Falcon, thus earning the squadron another nickname “Falcon Slayers” and “AAMRAM Dodgers”.

Badge of the Squadron Number 51, The Strong Arms. This was given after successfully thwarting the PAF’s air raids

This was the only case in which a MiG-21 shot down an F-16 in actual air-to-air combat.

The IAF was set to phase out these jets a long time back. And replace them with the indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. Due to delays in the induction of these new jets. The IAF is compelled to continue to fly the Soviet-era fighter.

An official from the IAF stated, “The IAF carries out extensive checks on these planes before flying and all safety aspects are taken care of before the pilot takes off.”

Bengaluru: loud noise heard over the city, people suspicious of earthquake or sonic boom

Aayushi Singh — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 09:33:53 +0000

On Friday Afternoon, in South Bengaluru, a loud noise was heard which brought back memories of the sonic boom of last year, and the officials were now checking to see if it had been another sonic book from an IAF jet.

In May last year, across Bengaluru a mysterious noise had been heard which rattled the citizens as the theories and the rumors about the major boom spread like wildfire. The Indian Air Force soon revealed that it had been the IAF Test Flight invasion a supersonic profile that took off from the Bengaluru airport that resulted in the sonic boom.

DCP South on the loud noise heard on Friday said that it seemed like a sonic boom and there was nothing on the ground, HAL was close by and in the previous two days, Tejas sorties were happening. It looked like a sonic boom as of now to them.

The DCP added that they had sent out their forces all over but there was nothing on the ground.

The Bengaluru residents took to Twitter and other social media platforms to report that a loud boom had been heard in many parts of the city and according to the users, the sound was heard on Friday at 12:23 p.m.

A few people feared that it could have been an earthquake, whereas a few asked whether it had been a blast that shook up the city over again, however, most of the people wondered if it had been another sonic boom that was caused by an IAF flight like the previous year.

India brings possible use of weaponised drones for terrorism to UN’s attention

Faara Nadeem — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 14:26:06 +0000

With recent attacks at a military installation and IAF station by using unmanned aerial vehicles, India has told the UN General Assembly to pay serious attention at the possibility of the use of weaponised drones for terrorist activities.

An attack on a military installation with the help of drones has been reported by alert Army sentries at the Ratnuchak-Kaluchak station who fired at the unmanned aerial vehicles that flew away.

This attack took place hours after IAF station saw the first terror attack using quadcopters.

Two low intensity explosions were reported early Sunday morning in the technical area of Jammu Air Force Station. One caused minor damage to the roof of a building while the other exploded in an open area.

— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) June 27, 2021

Preliminary investigations have revealed that payloads of more than 2 kg were dropped with explosive devices (IEDs) fitted on the Indian Air Force Station in Jammu on Saturday night.

India has brought to the attention of the UN General Assembly that the possibility of the use of weaponised drones for terrorist activities against strategic and commercial assets.

V S K Kaumudi, Special Secretary (Internal Security), Ministry of Home Affairs in the Government of India, “Today, misuse of information and communication technology such as internet and social media for terrorist propaganda, radicalisation and recruitment of cadre; misuse of new payment methods and crowdfunding platforms for financing of terrorism; and misuse of emerging technologies for terrorist purposes have emerged as the most serious threats of terrorism and will decide the counter-terrorism paradigm going forward.”