Central Air Command (India) Explained

Unit Name:Central Air Command, Indian Air Force
Country:India
Branch:Indian Air Force
Type:Operational Air Command
Role:Air Defence, OCA, Offensive Ground Support, Airlift.
Garrison:Prayagraj
Garrison Label:Headquarters
Motto:Damniyah Atmashatravah
Battles:1962 Sino-Indian War, East Pakistan Operations 1971, Operation Meghdoot, Orissa Super-Cyclone Relief, 1999
Commander1:Air Marshal Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor, AVSM, VM
Commander1 Label:Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Commander2 Label:Senior Air Staff Officer
Start Date:19 March 1962

The Central Air Command is one of the five operational commands of the Indian Air Force. It is currently headquartered in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. It was formed on 19 March 1962, at Rani Kuthee, Calcutta.

History

Due to the possibility of war with China, No. 1 Operational Group was formed on 27 May 1958 at Ranikuthee in Calcutta, to look after all the units. In 1959, it was upgraded to Eastern Air Force (EAF). In 1962, after the Sino-Indian War, EAF was moved to Shillong and Central Air Command (CAC) was formed on 19 March 1962 with its headquarters at Rani Kuthee, Calcutta (now Kolkata). Calcutta was considered an inappropriate location for the Central Air Command Headquarters and it was relocated to Allahabad in February 1966.[1]

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, CAC English Electric Canberras carried out 163 bombing and 33 close air support sorties against Pakistani forces, and raided Pakistan Air Force airbases at Mauripur, Multan, Sargodha, Peshawar, and Chaklala. Squadron Leader Charanjit Singh and Flt Lt Mangat Singh made a 'brilliant raid' on the night of 13–14 September 1965, by carrying out a major air base attacks at Peshawar. Three Mahavir Chakras were awarded to the members of Canberra squadrons. In a major attack, seven Canberras of No. 35 Squadron attacked the oil storage tanks at Karachi, destroying about 60% of Pakistan's oil reserves.

On 3 November 1988, during the 1988 Maldives coup d'état, Indian troops were airlifted to Maldives in two CAC Ilyushin Il-76s and landed at Hulule airport on a dark unlit runway. By 2.30am on 4 November the Indian forces completed their mission and safely brought back the President of Maldives.

In operation "Safed Sagar" during the Kargil war in 1999, CAC played a prominent role by successfully carrying out attacks on enemy bases.

The IAF's first exercise with a foreign air force (Garud) took place with the French Air Force in Gwalior in 2003 and CAC participated in an eight-day exercise. A number of joint exercises have been conducted with the United States Air Force, Royal Air Force, the Singapore Air Force and South African Air Force at Gwalior and Agra.[2]

Organization

Squadrons include:

SquadronBaseEquipmentNotes
No. 106 Squadron IAFAgra Air Force StationAvro 748MNo. 4 Wing IAF
No. 8 Squadron IAFBareilly Air Force StationSu-30MKINo. 15 Wing IAF
No. 24 Squadron IAFBareilly Air Force StationSu-30MKINo. 15 Wing IAF
No. 111 Helicopter Unit, IAFBareilly Air Force StationHAL DhruvNo. 15 Wing IAF
No. 16 Squadron IAFGorakhpur Air Force StationSEPECAT Jaguar ISNo. 17 Wing IAF
No. 27 Squadron IAFGorakhpur Air Force StationSEPECAT Jaguar ISNo. 17 Wing IAF
No. 105 Helicopter Unit, IAFGorakhpur Air Force StationNo. 17 Wing IAF
No. 1 Squadron IAFMaharajpur Air Force StationMirage-2000HNo. 40 Wing IAF
No. 7 Squadron IAFMaharajpur Air Force StationMirage-2000HNo. 40 Wing IAF
No. 9 Squadron IAFMaharajpur Air Force StationMirage-2000No. 40 Wing IAF
TACDEMaharajpur Air Force StationSu-30 MKI, Dassault Mirage 2000No. 40 Wing IAF

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief

+List of Air Officer Commanding-in-ChiefRankNameFromTo
Air Vice MarshalShivdev Singh[3]
Kundan Lal Sondhi
Hari Chand Dewan
Hrushikesh Moolgavkar
Maurice Barker
Bandi Sreeramulu Krishnarao
Air Marshal
Idris Hasan Latif
George Kanishtkumar John
Gian Dev Sharma
Trilochan Singh Brar
Balwant Wickram Chauhan
Denis Anthony Lafontaine
Ripu Daman Sahni
Johney William Greene
Nirmal Chandra Suri
Mohinder Singh Bawa
Swaroop Krishna Kaul
Pondicherry Jayarao Jayakumar
Naresh Kumar
Dev Nath Rathore
Vinod Patney
Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy
Vinod Kumar Bhatia
Vinod Patney
Vinod Kumar Verma
Shashindra Pal Tyagi
Brijendra Mohan Bali
Raghu Rajan
Jaspal Singh Gujral
Pradeep Vasant Naik
Packiam Paul Rajkumar
Gurdip Singh Kochar
Arup Raha
Jasvinder Chauhan
Kulwant Singh Gill
Shyam Bihari Prasad Sinha
Rajesh Kumar
Amit Tiwari
Richard John Duckworth
Amar Preet Singh[4]
Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor

Operations

The CAC mainly patrols the North Central part of India. It has airbases at Agra, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Gwalior and Prayagraj and some units are located at Bihta, Darbhanga, Bakshi-ka-Talab, Nagpur, Kanpur, Nainital, Memaura and Varanasi.[2]

The CAC operates fixed-wing aircraft such as the Mirage 2000, Antonov An-32, Ilyushin Il-76 and Dornier 228; and helicopters such as the Mil Mi-8, Mil Mi-17 and Mil Mi-26.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Reorganising the Air Force For Future Operations . Air Vice Marshal Arun Kumar . Tiwari . 15 August 2012. 9789381411728 . VIJ Books (India) PVT Ltd.
  2. News: Central Air Command: A dominant power in the sky. . 2 October 2012 . Rajiv . Mani.
  3. News: Central Air Command - BRF . 13 September 2022. Bharat Rakshak.
  4. Air Marshal AP Singh Assumes the Appointment of AOC-In-C Central Air Command . PIB. 2022-07-01.