Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa says Indian Air Force is prepared to fight at a short notice.

Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa on October 8 expressed at the loss of lives during peacetime even as he said the Indian Air Force (IAF) was prepared to fight at a short notice if needed.

“Notwithstanding the high intensity of our flying we cannot afford to have accidents and lose valuable lives and assets. Our losses during peacetime are a cause of concern and we are making concerted efforts to prevent accidents and preserve our assets,” Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said paying homage to the seven personnel. He was addressing the Air Force on the occasion of the 85th anniversary after reviewing the parade at Hindon Air Force station.

Elaborating on the measures taken to improve safety, Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said state-of-art flight simulators have been inducted for training air crew. “To ensure a flying devoid of bird strikes we have enhanced out capability of conducting bird surveys by induction of micro-light aircraft,” he said.

On October 6, a Mi-17 V5 helicopter on an air maintenance mission crashed in Tawang killed five IAF personnel and two Army personnel.

Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said according to preliminary assessment, the accident was caused as the helicopter’s tail rotor dis-engaged and added, “The exact cause will be known latter. Will not speak more on the issue as the court of inquiry is on.”

Ruling the skies: The Air Force Day parade under way at the Hindon base in Ghaziabad on Sunday. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Surya Kiran in full strength

The IAF enthralled the audience with an interesting flypast by various types of aircraft. The aerobatic team Surya Kiran performed at their full strength with nine aircraft after a gap of several years and indigenous eye in the sky Netra Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system on an Embraer aircraft made its debut during the flypast.

The Surya Kiran team was disbanded for four years due to shortage of intermediate jet trainers and was re-formed in October 2015 with Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT). The aircraft strength was gradually being built up and on Sunday it performed with its full strength.

An interesting aspect of the Surya Kiran performance was the various formations that were presented. While the nine aircraft flew in the forms of frontline Su-30, indigenous Tejas and soon to be inducted Rafale. The surprise formation was that of the SAAB Gripen which is in the race for the single engine aircraft tender along with F-16 of Lockheed Martin.

IAF is expected to issue the tender for over 100 single engine fighters in the next few weeks. The deal is estimated to cost over ₹60,000 crore.