No. 7 Squadron IAF

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

No. 7 Squadron
Ground attack
BaseAFS Gwalior
Nickname(s)Battle Axes
Motto(s)Shatrunjay
Vanquish the enemy
Aircraft flown
FighterDassault Mirage 2000H

No. 7 Squadron, Indian Air Force (Battle Axes) operates as a Special Munitions Delivery and

air superiority unit. Based at Gwalior AFB, No.7 Squadron forms a part of 40 Wing AF, Central Air Command
.

Crest

No. 7 Squadron Sqn has as its emblem two unfolded wings adorning a

Farsha (Battle-axe) and the symbolic number 7 attached to the shaft. Below this crest, on a scroll were the letters Shatrunjay (Close English Translation: Vanquisher of the enemy). This logo was officially approved by President
on 26 September 1960, and has adorned aircraft that No. 7 Squadron has flown since.

Mirage 2000
of the No. 7 Squadron.

History

No. 7 Squadron (Battle Axes) was raised on 1 December 1942 at

RAF plus No. 3 (Calcutta) and No. 6 (Vizagapatnam) Coast Defence Flight, under Air Headquarters formation, order 268 on 19 November 1942. However, initially, the squadron operated Westland Wapitis
until it could be armed with the Vultees. The first missions flown by No. 7 Sqn was in
North West Frontier Province in what is now Pakistan in December 1943. The squadron has since flown with distinction in a number of conflicts, including 1965, 1971 conflicts, 1999 Kargil War
.

Burma Operations

The Squadron was to see extensive action during Second World War. In its first tour of duty between March and September 1944, No. 7 flew a six aircraft detachment against Japanese targets during the

Samungli in June 1945. In November 1945, the Squadron moved to Gwalior, where it converted to Spitfire Mk.XIVs, which it flew from December 1945 till July 1947, when the squadron converted to the Tempest Mk.II.[1]

For his contributions during World War II the then CO, Squadron Leader P.C. Lal, would win the DFC.

Independence and Kashmir Operations 1947-48

At the time of the partition No. 7 was based at Risalpur, having converted to the Tempest in June 1947. No.7 Squadron was one of the units allocated to India after the division of the Assets between the two new nations of India and Pakistan. After partition, the unit moved to Agra and was operational within two months of Independence.

The units first post-independence operations was in November 1947. In response to the tribal invasion of the Kashmir kingdom and subsequent

Harvard and taken prisoner. He was later awarded the Kirti Chakra (then Ashoka Chakra Cl. II) for his resilience in captivity. For his role in the initial days of operations, the CO Sqn Ldr Noronha was later awarded the Maha Vir Chakra. Flt Lt BS Dogra received the Vir Chakra for his sorties during the Battle of Shalateng
.

The Squadron redeployed at Palam on a permanent basis in February 1948. Missions over J&K from the Advanced Landing Ground at Amritsar. These missions were flown in the Poonch area and against Skardu airfield, as well as the Tithwal area. Wg Cdr Ranjan Dutt along with some pilots of 7 Sqn flew to attack the bridge at Domel. The squadron would suffer two fatalities, Fg Offr Balwant Singh and Fg Offr DG Baptiste to ground fire. In August 1948, the squadron set up base in Srinagar and provided support to the army operations near the Zoji La pass. Gilgit airfield was bombed by Tempests on 4 November 1948. For its role, No. 7 Sqn would win five Vir Chakras.

One of the first three Vampires to be delivered to the Indian Air Force. The plane sports the Chakra roundel. This aircraft war later incorporated into No. 7 Sqn

In January 1949, the Squadron moved to Palam where it became the first unit in the IAF to operate the Vampire, which had arrived in November 1948. At that time the squadron was the first unit in the whole of Asia to operate Jet aircraft. The unit now operated one flight with three Vampires and the second flight with Tempests. After converting back to Spitfires in 1949, No. 7 converted to operating only the Vampires in 1951. During this time, No. 7 Sqn came to form the first aerobatics team.

The Vampires were phased out in January 1958, when the new Hawker Hunters were inducted.

Although put on high alert during the

Sino-Indian war in 1962, the unit did not see any action in this conflict, mainly due to the government
's decision to limit the air force's role to supply and evacuation.

Indo-Pakistan War 1965

At the onset of the war, the squadron was based at

Taran Taran
. In the ensuing battle, Sqn Sqn Ldr AK Rawlley's aircraft hit the ground and exploded.

On the same evening, Halwara Airfield was raided by a three ship formation from PAF No. 5 Sqn. At the time of the raid, No. 7 had two aircraft, Fg Offr PS Pingale and Fg Offr AR Ghandhi, flying on CAP over the airfield. Both were bounced by the Sabres. In the battle that followed, Pingale was shot down before he could give battle. Ghandhi, however, was able to shoot down his adversary [2] before his aircraft fell to the cannon shells of the two remaining Sabres. At about this time, Hunters from No. 27 Sqn returning from a sortie were directed to join the battle, which shot down one of the attackers. The remaining sabre, was claimed that it made itself back to base by the PAF, was also shot down.[2]

The No. 7 was to suffer two more fatalities the next day, when on a dawn strike against PAF Sargodha, a five-ship formation was intercepted. Two of the unit, Sqn Ldr SB Bhagwat and Fg Offr JS Brar, were lost on that day. Hunters from No. 7 Sqn, however, provided

B-57
raid at Halwara destroyed two of the squadron's Hunters on the ground.

No. 7's next air-to-air kill was on 16 September, when Fg Offr PS Pingale shot down a F-86 Sabre over Tarn Tarn. His wingman Fg Offr Farokh Dara Bunsha from No. 20 Sqn was shot down and killed. Another aircraft fell on 20 September, when Fg Offr SK Sharma ejected from his badly damaged Hunter was over Kasur on 20 September. The unit however, lost Sqn Ldr DP Chatterjee, who had joined 7 Sqn on deputation from 20 Sqn was killed in the same battle.

Although the squadron's figures at the war are not impressive compared to what it would go on to achieve in six years, it remains true that it was seriously limited in its deep penetration strikes, operating ammunition-laden Hunters at maximum range in IAF's strike against bases as deep as PAF Sargodha,.

mentioned in dispatches
. For its impressive record in the air as well as on ground, the squadron received commendations from the Prime Minister L B Shastri, the Defence Minister Shri YB Chavan and Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh. After the war No. 7 would move to
Operational Conversion Unit with the addition of a Hunter Trainer Flight. However, the unit was moved again in March 1969, this time to Bagdogra
.

Bangladesh War, 1971

Main article:
East Pakistan Operations 1971

No. 7 is probably the only unit to have flown both in the

war
. Operations in 1971 Eastern Operations (Main article:
East Pakistan Operations 1971
) Immediately following
ack ack
. Both of the two badly damaged Hunters eventually lost crossed the IB into friendly airspace. Fg Offr Andre Da Costa's Hunter went out of control and crashed, killing him. The Hunter leader, Sqn Ldr SK Gupta ejected safely over Baghdogra airfield. In total, No. 7 flew 40 sorties in the east before it was pulled out to the western theatre.

No. 7 Squadron (Hunters) flew to

Ganganagar, a Hunter was lost to ground fire. Its pilot was the charismatic Officer Commanding (O.C.) of the squadron, Wing Commander (and later, Air Vice Marshal) Bernard Anthony Coelho. Wing Commander Coelho ejected over No Man's Land and was taken prisoner by Pakistani ground forces before he could be located by Indian troops. He was replaced by Wg Cdr Nirmal Chandra Suri on 09 Dec.[5] Interdiction sorties were also flown against targets in the Suleimanke Headworks area. One of these missions on 9 December, flown by Flying Officer Diskhit, landed with the fuel gauges reading zero. Towards the end of the war, the squadron moved to Pathankot
, where it stayed till the end of the war. The squadron was awarded Three VrCs, and one Vayu sena Medal. Three other pilots were mentioned in dispatches.

After Bangladesh

After the end of the war, the unit was positioned at Bagdogra from where it moved to Chandigarh in 1973 to convert to MIG 21MF. The Squadron then moved to Pathankot. The OC of the unit in 1972 was Wg Cdr RV Singh and in 1973 Wg Cdr Trilochan Singh (later Air Marshal- SASO of WAC). Sqn Ldr AY Tipnis was the Flight Commander of the newly converted Mig 21MF sqn (later Chief of Air Staff). Sqn Ldr SP Tyagi (later Chief of the Air Staff) was also with the Sqn in 1973.

The Sqn was the first IAF Sqn to convert to the

Mirage 2000, in a ceremonial parade on 29 June 1985.[5]

In June 1987, during

Sri Lankan Air Force, provided air-cover for the five An 32 detailed to airdrop food supplies over Jaffna
.

The Battle Axes were called into action again on 3 November 1988 during

Hulule
airfield.

Kargil Operations in May 1999 - Op Safed Sagar

No. 7 squadron was back in action again in May 1999, called to assist the

Operation Vijay. The Battle Axes at that time was under the command of Wg Cdr Sandeep Chabra. For the first time, the IAF had employed Precision guided munitions
to strike the supply lines of the entrenched enemy.

After the failure of the first strikes by Jaguars, the task was assigned to the Mirages. Flying from Adampur AFB, Mirages of No.7 Sqn struck Tigerhill, Muntho Dhalo,[6] Tololing. Along with the LGBs, 1000lbers were also used. On one particular sortie, a Mirage came upon a Pakistani Army Helicopter, but did not engage as it was in the moment of crossing back over the LoC.

Wg Cdr Chabra received the

Tiger Hill
with ease also received the Vayu Sena Medal. Sqn Ldr AS Heer, was awarded the VM, having shown considerable ingenuity to record the effects of the bomb-strikes. Sqn Ldr KI Ravi, of No. 1 Sqn, who devised the adaptation of the 1000 lb bombs to the Mirage was also awarded the VSM

Operation Parakram

In 2002 Mirage-2000s from the squadron used Precision Guided Munitions to destroy posts captured by Pakistan Army in the Machal sector of the LoC.[7]

Aircraft

Aircraft From To Air Base
Pre-Independence (1942–47)
Westland Wapiti December 1942 April 1943 Visakhapatnam[8][9]
Vultee A-31 Vengeance May 1943 September 1944 Gwalior
Harvard IIC November 1944 May 1946 Kumbhirgram
Harvard IIB August 1944 January 1948 Samungli
Spitfire VIII December 1945 October 1946
Post-Independence (1947–Present)
Hawker Tempest II June 1947 January 1950 AFS Agra
Vampire F3 December 1948 November 1951 AFS Palam
Spitfire VIII January 1950 September 1951
Vampire FB52 March 1951 January 1958
Hawker Hunter Mk 56 January 1958 1961
1961 1965 AFS Ambala
November 1965 1971
AFS Hindon
1971 June 1973 AFS NAL
MiG-21 MF
 July 1973 July 1981 AFS Chandigarh
MiG-21 M
 July 1981 December 1984
Dassault Mirage 2000H July 1985 Present AFS Gwalior

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Halley 1988, p. 523.
  2. ^ a b Hali S. M., PAF's First Shaheeds. Defence Journal, Karachi. September 2000. http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/sept/shaheeds.htm URL Accessed on 12-Aug-06
  3. ^ "The Reply - Air Battles of September 7th". Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  4. ^ "Thunder & Lightnings - Hawker Hunter - History".
  5. ^ a b "No.7 Squadron".
  6. ^ IAF intensifies strikes Capt, 4 others die in hand-to-hand combat. The Tribune, India. Sunday, June 27, 1999. http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99jun27/head.htm URL accessed on 13-Aug-06
  7. ^ The Kargil-II Incident
  8. ^ "No.7 Squadron Battle Axes". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  9. ^ Pillarisetti, Jagan (12 July 2017). "No.7 Squadron". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 21 June 2021.

Bibliography

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=No._7_Squadron_IAF&oldid=1199030403"