No. 44 Squadron IAF

No. 44 Squadron
No. 44 Squadron
	IL-76MD

No. 44 Squadron is a unit of the

Maintenance Command

. The Squadron participates in operations involving air, land and air-drop of troops, equipment, supplies, and support or augment special operations forces, when appropriate.

History

The Squadron undertook extensive air maintenance sorties in the Ladakh and J&K Sectors. This earned the squadron the emblem of "Himalayan Geese" which was formally approved by the then President, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on 26 May 1966.

In 1971 Indo-Pak Conflict, the squadron proved its mettle by innovating and effectively employing AN-12s in the bombing role in the Western theatre. Notably, 44 Squadron is the only transport squadron of the Indian Air Force to be conferred the Battle Honours, a feat otherwise reserved for active operational combat units.^[3] No. 44 Squadron has flown relief missions to Sri Lanka and Indonesia during the tsunami disaster, rescuing civilians, and to avalanche victims in Kashmir as well SOS missions to quake-affected Iran.^[4]

Lineage

Constituted as No. 44 Squadron (Mighty Jets) on 6 April 1961^[5]
Designated the emblem of "Himalayan geese" on 26 May 1966

Assignments

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
1988 Maldives coup d'état
Battle of Jaffna (1995)
Hurricane Katrina disaster relief
2020–2021 China–India skirmishes

Aircraft

IL-76

References

^ "AWACS, aerial refuellers to shift base to city. Indian Air Force to assign all IL-76 airlifters to one squadron".
^ "Land hitch hits air force base - Plan for IL-76 station at Nagpur dropped after 10-year wait". Archived from the original on 12 March 2018.
^ "President's standard awarded to IAF's 44 Squadron and 110 Helicopter Unit". Meghalayatimes.info. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
^ "IAF's 'Mighty Jets' carry relief to Pakistan". Rediff.com. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
^ "Squadrons and Helicopter Units". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 23 November 2015.

[1] "AWACS, aerial refuellers to shift base to city. Indian Air Force to assign all IL-76 airlifters to one squadron".

[2] "Land hitch hits air force base - Plan for IL-76 station at Nagpur dropped after 10-year wait". Archived from the original on 12 March 2018.

[3] "President's standard awarded to IAF's 44 Squadron and 110 Helicopter Unit". Meghalayatimes.info. Retrieved 30 July 2017.

[4] "IAF's 'Mighty Jets' carry relief to Pakistan". Rediff.com. Retrieved 30 July 2017.

[BRakshak-5] "Squadrons and Helicopter Units". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 23 November 2015.

[3]

[4]

[5]