No. 3 Squadron IAF
No. 3 Squadron | |
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MiG-21 Bison |
The No.3 Squadron (Cobras) of the
Crest
No. 3 Squadron's emblem is a winged dagger clenched in a fist and entwined by a cobra. Below this crest, the words Lakshya Vedh, literally 'on target,' are written upon a scroll.
History
No. 3 Squadron (Cobras) was formed on 1 October 1941 at
NWFP 1942
The first deployment of No. 3 Sqn was in January 1942, when the A Flight of the unit was deployed at Miranshah against the insurgency led by the Faqir of Ipi.[4] The unit stayed there until February when it was replaced by the B Flight. The A-flight was sent to Kohat, where it remained until September.
The Faqir waged a guerilla war that before and even during World War II, was a source of constant disconcert to the Raj. Added to this was the personal charisma of the Faqir. Against this enemy, No. 3, which replaced the No. 2 Sqn, was placed on what has been termed "Watch and Ward"
The unit converted to Hurricane IIc after moving to Risalpur in September 1943, and between November 1942 and February 1944, it moved first to Phaphamau, and then to Ranchi for Gunnery training. It was moved back to Kohat in February and briefly was deployed against the resurgent tribal people in the North Western Frontier Province. However, for most of the year of 1944, the unit remained in training at Kohat.
Burma operations
3 Sqn was ordered to move to
At the beginning of April the Squadron was involved in road blocking sorties and in attacks on targets in the Taungup pass area with delayed action bombs. On 11 April the bridge south-east of Thin Chaung was bombed and destroyed successfully. The Squadron's stint in Burma was short, compared with the other RIAF Squadrons, but its contribution was acknowledged by the award of one DFC to Flt Lt Minoo Merwan Engineer. Also, Fg Offr Randhir Singh received a commendation for his services in combat.
3 Sqn was moved to St Thomas Mount at
In April 1946, No. 3 Squadron became the first RIAF Squadron to be equipped with the Hawker Tempest II fighter bomber. This was completed by December 1946 and command of the unit was assigned to Sqn Ldr Mohan Dev Suri in January 1947, which was followed by a move to Pune. There it remained for a considerable part of the year, giving displays over neighbouring towns and cities. Puri's command was unfortunately short-lived, however; his aircraft went down in bad weather over the Western Ghats. In a run of bad fortune, the next commanding officer, Sqn Ldr AR Pandit, also suffered severe injuries when his Tempest crashed whilst taking off on 9 December 1947. Pandit's replacement was Sqn Ldr KS Bhat, an ex Vengeance pilot from No. 7 Squadron. Accidents continued into 1948. Plt Offr Coelho was lost in a crash in July 1948. There were several other 'write-off' cases that were non-fatal. Flt Lt LRD Blunt arrived from Ambala to give dual checks to newly arrived pilots in an effort to decrease accidents.
Hyderabad operations
No. 3's first post-independence commitment came to be in support of the Indian army during the
The unit continued operating its Tempests from Pune after the annexation of Hyderabad, but following a spate of accidents in the following years, the unit was re-equipped first with
In January 1956, Flt Lt Jagat Lowe carried out the first crash-landing of an Ouragan when his nosewheel failed to lock on. In May 1958, the unit replaced its Ouragans with Dassault Mystères soon after its move to Kalaikunda AB. In May, 57 Sqn Ldr Bose had taken over as the CO of the unit. A batch of six pilots were sent to France for training. Conversion training finished by June but not before the squadron got the dubious honour of having the first Mystère ejection in the IAF: Fg Offr Sahni ejected during a training flight. A year later, there was another fatality, as Flt Lt C S Raj died when his Mystère crashed during a low level sortie.
No. 3 did not participate in operations in Goa or during the Sino-Indian War. It was left out on standby at Kalaikunda, but never really got called into action.
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
No. 3 was put on standby when the initial skirmishes broke out in the Rann of Kutch, and remained on alert through August with the pilots flying on regular training and recce sorties. The unit had been assigned a new CO, Wg Cdr Paul Robey, in April. The first offensive sorties were undertaken on the evening of 1 September, when No. 3, along with Squadron No. 31, flew 16 sorties in 45 minutes against Pakistani Armour at Chamb.[6] The first missions were launched immediately following a strike mission by a Vampire flight of the No. 45 Squadron that went disastrously wrong. The PAF, which had provided air cover against the earlier disastrous mission undertaken by the Vampires, chose not to provide opposition[6] and before the end of the day, the Pakistani offensive had been blunted.
No.3 continued to provide
Throughout the following two days, No. 3 flew a number of sorties against targets of opportunity. Though on 6 September, No. 3 faced a dusk raid on Pathankot by the
In the retaliatory air strike that followed the next day, No. 3 was assigned on strikes against the Pakistani airfields of Chander and Rahwali. The first of these strikes, a three ship mission led by Sqn Ldr Jasbir Singh, found the airfields at Chander and Rahwali abandoned. Nonetheless, the mission took out a Pakistani radar installation operating at Rahwali. Tragically, Singh's Mystere crashed into the ground during the return leg, killing the officer.[6]
A change of command occurred midway, as Wg Cdr S Bhattacharya took over from Paul Robey, who had fallen sick.
No. 3 Sqn continued
During the last mission of the war, on 22 December, Fg offr Ramchandani's Mystere was shot down in friendly fire near Lahore. Although ejected safely, he was fired upon while descending by parachute. Ramchandani sustained injuries and died in the hospital on 26 September.
Throughout the war, No. 3 Squadron put in 290 sorties in twenty two days. The unit lost two Mystères and two pilots in operational accidents: Sqd Ldr Jasbir Singh died when he flew into the ground, and Fg Offr Ramchandani was killed by friendly fire. Four Mystères were lost on the ground to the PAF air raid at Pathankot in the opening stages of the war. The unit did not suffer any losses in air-to-air combat.
The No. 3 Sqn's efforts were recognized by the award of Four
Bangladesh War, 1971
At
The unit had moved to
During these missions, No. 3 Sqn lost two machines, one due to engine failure in the initial stages of the war, the other to ground fire when Sqn Ldr JD Kumar's Mystere was hit by AA during a photorecce sortie over the Fazilka on 13 December. The pilot was killed in an unsuccessful ejection.[11]
The Squadron received two Vir Chakra awards: one went to CO Wg Cdr Dogra; the other went to Sqn Ldr Jasjit Singh.[12][13] The unit also won one Mention-in-Dispatches and five CAS commendations.[14]
Present
No. 3 Sqn moved back to
In July 1980, the MiG-21FLs were exchanged for the MiG-21Bis and conversion was completed October of the year. In 2002, the unit converted to the Mig 21 Bison which are currently in operation. The Cobras celebrated their Diamond Jubilee in October 2002.
In May 2019, it became the first squadron to host a fully commissioned women fighter pilot Bhawana Kanth of the Indian Air Force.[15]
The squadron moved to the NAL Air Force Station in Bikaner at an unspecified date.[16] The squadron will be equipped with newer Tejas Mk1A.[1]
Aircraft
Aircraft | From | To | Air Base |
---|---|---|---|
Pre-Independence (1941–47) | |||
Hawker Audax | 1 October 1941 | October 1943 | Peshawar[17][18] |
Hawker Hurricane IIC | December 1943 | December 1945 | Risalpur |
Harvard IIB | October 1945 | September 1947 | |
Spitfire VIII | November 1945 | January 1947 | |
Post-Independence (1947–Present) | |||
Hawker Tempest II | October 1946 | December 1952 | AFS Pune |
Vampire FB52 | January 1953 | March 1954 | |
Dassault Ouragan | May 1954 | May 1958 | |
Dassault Mystère IV | July 1958 | August 1963 | AFS Kalaikunda |
September 1963 | March 1972 | AFS Pathankot | |
MiG-21 FL |
April 1972 | July 1980 | |
MiG-21 bis |
1 October 1980 | July 2002 | |
MiG-21 Bison |
August 2002 | — | |
— | Present | AFS NAL |
See also
- First Kashmir War
- Kargil War
- Operation Safed Sagar
References
Notes
- ^ a b Singh, Rahul (7 December 2023). "MiG-21 relevant even in today's air combat". Hindustan Times.
- ^ Dutch Aviation Society. OrBat of the Indian Air Force Archived 22 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ halley 1988, p. 521.
- ^ a b c d Bharat-Rakshak, History of No. 3 Sqn
- ^ Wikipedia article on the Faqir of Ipi
- ^ a b c d Air Attack-Outbreak of the war (Sept 1st–6th). Bharat Rakshak, 1965 Air Operations Archived 6 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "A jolly good daredevil who shot down enemy planes" by Parmindar Singh The Tribune, Chandigarh, 9 December 2002
- ^ Devastation of Pathankot Gp Capt S M Hali. Defence Journal, September, 2000
- ^ a b Bharat-rakshak.com. History of the No. 3 Sqn 1971 Operations
- ^ a b Cooper T and Shaiz A "India – Pakistan War, 1971; Western Front, Part I". Air Combat Information Group 29 Oct 2003
- ^ "Indian Air Force Roll of Honour 1971 War" Pg 2. Bharat-rakshak.com
- ^ "Gallantry & Service Awards of the Indian Air Force" Awards for 3 Squadron. Bharat-rakshak.com
- ^ "IAF Gallantry Awards for the 1971 Air War" Bharat-rakshak.com
- ^ "Gallantry & Service Awards of the Indian Air Force. World War 1, World War 2 and Post Independence." Bharat-Rakshak.com
- ^ "Bhawana Kanth Is India's First Woman Pilot to Qualify for Combat Missions". NDTV. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Singh, Rahul (30 November 2023). "IAF's Squadron No 3 prepares for bittersweet farewell as MiG-21 set to retire". Hindustan Times.
- ^ "No.3 Squadron Winged Daggers". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ Pillarisetti, Jagan (17 June 2017). "No.3 Squadron". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
Bibliography
- Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1818–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
- Sabharwal, Wing Commander D.P. (Retd.). Cobras: 3 Squadron Indian Air Force Diamond Jubilee. No. 3 Squadron IAF, 2002.
External links