Posted on 07/05/2010 2:14:12 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
India's first naval fighter squadron turns 50
TNN, Jul 5, 2010, 12.38am IST
NEW DELHI: The `White Tigers' turn 50 this week. No, not the ones from Rewa but India's first-ever naval fighter squadron, which takes its name from the famous tigers with white fur instead of the usual orange due to a recessive gene.
It was on July 7, 1960, that the INSAS 300 squadron was commissioned at the British Royal Naval air station in Brawdy, propelling India into the exclusive club of countries which flew fighters from aircraft carriers.
The squadron, with its crest depicting the white tiger of Rewa, will celebrate its golden jubilee with a slew of functions at the naval airbase in Goa this week.
Fifty years ago, the INSAS 300 squadron was first equipped with SeaHawk jets to operate from India's then aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, which had earlier served the British Navy as HMS Hercules.
The first Seahawk, piloted by Lt Commander R H Tahilliani, who later went on to become Navy chief in 1984-1987, landed on INS Vikrant on 18 May, 1961. The White Tigers would go on to make history, tasting blood with deadly air strikes on the erstwhile East Pakistan during the 1971 war which led to the creation of Bangladesh.
"INSAS 300, operating from INS Vikrant, did not suffer a single loss but won one Maha Vir Chakra, five Vir Chakras, one Nao Sena Medal and four mention-in-despatches," said an officer.
With time, both the SeaHawks and INS Vikrant were retired. The White Tigers then inducted the Sea Harrier jump-jets to operate from aircraft carrier INS Viraat in the 1980s. Incidentally, the squadron also gave the Navy two more chiefs, Admirals Arun Prakash and Sureesh Mehta, in recent years.
But now, as earlier reported by TOI, the 50-year-old INS Viraat is fast running out of Sea Harrier jump-jets that take off from its angled ski-jump and land vertically on its deck. Navy had inducted 30 of the British-origin Sea Harriers but is left with only 11, with the rest being lost in accidents since the mid-1980s.
The White Tigers, however, are expected to continue to fly high with the under development naval variant of the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft in the coming years.
With the Navy inducting MiG-29Ks from Russia in its newly-commissioned 302 `Black Panthers' squadron now, the White Tigers is no longer the only frontline fighter squadron of the force. But its mystique endures.
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
The only requirement for inclusion in the Navair Pinglist is an interest in Naval Aviation.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.