India

The No.

5 squadron of the Indian Air Force, popularly known as “Tuskers”, would celebrate its platinum jubilee on Friday at the Ambala air force station.

The event aims to commemorate the squadron’s achievements on the completion of 75 glorious years of its service.Equipped with B-24 “Liberator” heavy bomber aircraft, the Tuskerscame into force in November 1948 under the leadership of the then Wing Commander J R S “Danny” Dantra at Kanpur.The squadron was shifted to its current base in Ambala in 1981.

Now equipped with Jaguar jets, the squadron has primarily performed an offensive operational role for theIAF since its inception.The squadron was awarded the President’s Colours in April 1975 by the then President, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, and became the first IAF bomber unit to achieve such a feat.Air Marshal P M Sinha, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Western Air Command, along with serving personnel and veterans of the squadron, would attend the historical event.

A special “postal cover” will also be released by Air Marshal Tejinder Singh, commodore commandant of the squadron.

A splendid air display by Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team, Akash Ganga para-diving team, and Rafale and Jaguar aircraft formations will be among other attractions on this occasion.Raised in KanpurAs per the information shared by the Western Air Command, No.

5 squadron of the then Royal Indian Air Force was raised at Kanpur on November 2, 1948.

However, within a few months, it moved to Pune and remained there for around eight years.

Despite being based at Pune, the squadron detached regularly to Jamnagar to carry out bombing exercises.

It helped in pioneering horizontal bombing techniques for the IAF.The squadron was equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberators, the aircraft which were the first of around 40-odd being refurbished and restored to flying condition by the IAF and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited, from the derelict remnants of a number of lend-lease aircraft that had been wrecked and abandoned in India at the end of the Second World War.

In early 1957, the squadron ceased to operate as a Liberator unit.

No.

5 also played a key role in the 1947-48 Indo-Pak war and conducted several bombing raids against Pakistan airbases.Induction of ‘Canberra’ and moving to AgraOn September 1, 1957, No.

5 became the first IAF squadron to re-equip the interdictor version of Canberra jet bomber.

The squadron had moved to Agra, which was to become the IAF’s main Canberra base in May 1957.As per an IAF spokesperson, in 1961, the Tuskers contributed a detachment to the United Nations’ multinational force in the Congo.

Canberra was selected because of its relatively long range and endurance, and carriage of a navigator and airborne navigation aids.

Six Canberra aircraft were ferried initially to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) in October 1961 to operate later from Elizabethville and former NATO airbase at Kamina.No.

5 flew 300 sorties during 1965 Indo-Pak warAs per the IAF, in 1965, the Tuskers took the Indo-Pak war straight to the heart of the Pakistan Air Force establishment.

They raided Sargodha on September 6 and 7, the very night when the IAF was cleared to conduct offensive operations.

On the night of September 13 and 14, the squadron carried out an unprecedented attack on the PAF base at Peshawar.

No.5 also attacked several other PAF airbases during the war, including Akwal, Chaklala, Dab, Murid, Risalwala, and Wagowal.

It provided close support to the Indian Army, attacking enemy troop concentrations at Chawinda, Kasur, Khem Karan, Pasrur and Sialkot.

Altogether, the squadron flew around 300 sorties in the course of the war.

Most of its counter-air sorties were undertaken at night, the IAF spokesperson added.Role in 1971 Indo-Pak WarAccording to the details provided by the Western Air Command, the squadron was led into war for the third time in 1971, commanded by Wing Commander (later Group Captain) Man Mohan Bir Singh Talwar.

Following Pakistan’s attempted pre-emptive air strike on Indian airbases on December 3, 1971, the IAF’s bomber units, which came under the operational control of Central Air Command, were among the first to receive orders to retaliate.

The Tuskers were airborne 10 minutes before mid-night, demonstrating a remarkably short reaction time.

The squadron also operated in the eastern sector and flew around 300 sorties during the 14-day war.Conversion to JaguarsThe IAF spokesperson said the squadron finally stood down as a Canberra unit at Agra in 1981, giving up the classic firstgeneration jet that had served as its mount for nearly a quarter of century, through three conflicts on two continents.

It re-formed at Ambala soon afterwards, on August 1, 1981, under the command of Wing Commander (later Air Vice Marshal) J S Sisodia, moving on to a new generation of aircraft and equipment with the Jaguar strike aircraft.Operation PawanIn July 1988.

No.

5 participated in Operation Pawan, the Indian peace-keeping force operation in Sri Lanka.

Initially, the squadron flew long-range reconnaissance missions, actually launching from locations well inside peninsular India, over-flying Jaffna, and then returning to India, often at night.





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