No. 21 Squadron IAF
| No. 21 Squadron | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | 16 October 1965- Present |
| Country | India |
| Role |
Air Defence Ground attack |
| Garrison/HQ | AFS Sirsa |
| Nickname(s) | "Ankush" |
| Motto(s) |
Siddhirvasti Sahase Success lies in courage |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | Sukhoi Su-30MKI |
No. 21 Squadron IAF (Ankush), is an Air Defence and Ground Attack unit of the Indian Air Force, operating from Sirsa AFS, as part of 12 Wing of Western Air Command.
The Squadron was formed on 16 October 1965, as an Air Defence unit, under Wing Commander E.R. Fernandes. It was to be equipped with Folland Gnats, but relied on Gnats borrowed from 2 Squadron, and 18 Squadron, until 14 May 1966, when it got its first batch of Gnats. In December 1968, the squadron was also allotted the role of Ground-Attack.
During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, the task of Air Defence of the Barmer Sector was allotted to the squadron, for which the squadron operated from Uttarlai with eight Gnats, with three more Gnats and pilots at Amritsar. The squadron was commanded by Wing Commander S.S. Malik, who was also designated Air Defence Commander of the sector. The Station Commander at Uttarlai was Wing Commander V.K. Murthy.
The men of the squadron were initially housed in tents. Subsequently, they were housed in the underground ATC. As word spread that Pakistani Commandos were seen in the sand, the men had to take turns doing night patrols. Soldiers could only have a bath every alternate day, and had six hundred rounds of ammunition with which they had to hunt goose for food.
On 3 December, a Pakistani Canberra, dropped eight bombs on the runway, making it unsuitable for use. However using civilian labour, the squadron cleared out the parallel taxi track. Thereafter only the track was used for take-off and landing. During the war, the squadron flew a total of 109 sorties, most of which were Combat Air patrols.
The first bit of action it saw was on the morning of 10 December. Squadron Leader Kale, and Flying Officer P. Ajit were flying a CAP, when they spotted two F-104 Starfighters. they engaged the planes, but failed to do damage, and had their runway bombed. A little later, the base was given a P-12 Radar, causing the Pakistani Air Force to avoid Uttarlai.
On 13 December six of their aircraft were moved to Ahmedabad to defend Ankleshwar Oil Refinery, and later four of these aircraft were to be moved to Srinagar. However they were informed of the ceasefire when they reached Pathankot, and flew back to Gorkhapur.
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Wikipedia