Airspace Violations
Lt Col Rathore of the Indian Army displayes wreckage of a Pakistan UAV shot down over Mendhar, Poonch in J&K on 05th Feb 2003. The UAV is of Italian make and was flying 400m on Indian side of the LoC. The aircraft was down by ground fire. Debris recovered included one wing, engine Assembly, a frame and transmitters.
PTI photo.
Boeing 757-22L belonging to Raytheon/COMCO in Mumbai. On 03rd Feb 2003 IAF forced this aircraft to land after it was found overflying Indian airspace without permission. The plane was flying with 11 crew from Karachi in Pakistan to Male in the Maldives.
Peter Bleach in news conference with UK High Commisionner Andrew Hall after release from prison in Calcutta 04.Feb.2004.
Bleach is a former UK intelligence officer and arms broker and was arrested for involvement in the famous Purulia armsdrop case. The British govt secured his release from life imprisonment in India.
Counter Terrorist Operations
IAF/ARC IL-76 deploys National Security Guard (NSG) commandos to Patna city for an operation.
Indian Navy Chetak deploys Marine Commandos (MARCOS) on to a rescued freighter - MV Jag Arnav - off the coast of Somalia. The merchant vessel had been attacked by pirates but were engaged by the helicopter before they could board the ship.
NSG commandos 'fast rope' down from IAF Mi-17 (Z-3362) to the rooftop of Nariman House, which was attacked by Pakistani terrorists on 26/11/2008 in Mumbai.
Another view of the Nariman House operation. This Mi-17 (Z-3362) is equipped with floatation equipment that allow the helicopter to stay afloat for 30 minutes in water, thus ideal for Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) missions.
UNOSOM-II Somalia
UNOSOM II. A US officer checks out the night sight on IAF Chetak in Somalia.
© MoD
UNMIS Sudan
[21st Dec 2007] Gp Capt Anil Tiwari hands over the Command of the Indian Aviation Contingent (IAC) to Gp Capt Sudheer Maingi. Gp Capt Maingi's squadron was comprised the second rotation of IAF personnel in the UNMIS mission.
© Indian Air Force
The UNMIS Force Commander, Lt Gen JS Liddder UYSM AVSM addresses the personnel of the IAC on the Indian Republic Day.
© Indian Air Force
[16th Apr 2008] Indian Ambassador to Sudan - Deepak Vohra - visited IAC from Khartoum
© Indian Air Force
2002 Operation Parakram
S-125 Pechora (NATO: SA-3 Goa) SAM system deployed close to India-Pakistan border near Amritsar. May 25th, 2002.
© Corbis
IC-814 Hijacking (1999)
A Strela (NATO: SA-13 Gopher) system protects the the Kandahar airfield where the hijcked aircraft is located.
Taliban operators armed with Stinger MANPADS secure the airspace around the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Indian Airlines Kathmandu-Delhi Airbus A300 was hijacked by terrorists with 186 people hostage on Dec 24th, 1999
The aircraft was forced to Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan which was then under Taliban control.
© Corbis
India China War (1962)
On 20th October 1962, a Bell 47G was lost on the Tsangdhar ridge. Pilot was Sqn Ldr Vinod Kumar Sehgal with Major Ram Singh as crew. The helicopter was on a rescue mission. The wreckage was captured by PRC forces.
[Nov 1962] A Dakota air drops supplies in Assam. Indian lines were highly inaccessible by road and hence difficult to supply.
© LIFE magazine
The total airlift capacity of the IAF was utilised to the maximum during the border war but was well short of the tonnage required to adequetly supply the troops on the ground.
© LIFE magazine
[Nov 1962] Senior officers of the Indian Army accompanied by IAF officers make a field visit to asses the situation during the war with China. Mi-4 helicopters are visible in the background.
© LIFE Magazine
ONUC Congo (1960)
A rare colour picture of a IAF Canberra B.(I)Mk 58 in Congo
Alf Blume Collection
A total of six Canberras from No. 5 Squadron (Tuskers) were sent for the ONUC mission
Alf Blume Collection
This DC-3 KA-DFN (exSAAF, exZS-DFN) was destroyed by IAF Canberra bombers at Kolwezi airport on Dec 06th, 1961.
© Jean-Pierre Sonck
The mission required the pilots to navigate thru a long distance over unfamiliar territory to carry out the attack.
© Jean-Pierre Sonck
1947/48 India Pakistan War
A C-47 Dakota at Srinagar airfield with supplies. Due to the small IAF fleet many civilian Dakota aircraft were contracted to help with the war effort.
© Corbis
Dakotas at Srinagar airfield - October 1947
Mercy Missions
IAF IL-76 at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas with relief supplies for Hurricane Katrina victims.
[14th Oct 1992] This famous incident saw the rescue of tourists from a malfunctioned cable car at Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh. The pilot - Gp Capt Fali Major - went on to the become Chief of Air Staff (CAS). This particular incident required each tourist be winched out from the cable car, by hovering precariously close to the set of cables that ran above the cable car.
© Indian Air Force
IAF Mi-17 in Sri Lanka with relief supplies for the Asian Tsunami disaster. IAF aircraft were based for many weeks out of Sri Lanka (Operation Rainbow).
Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Do-228 in Maldives. A number of aircraft were based in Maldives for the mercy mission (Operation Castor).
A rare picture of a BSF Air Wing Mi-17 in operations - seen here during Jammu and Kashmir 'snow tsunami' rescue missions.
