Squadron 29 detachments were posted at Uttarlai, Hindon and Sirsa at
the outbreak of the war. Based at Uttarlai were also the Maruts of
No.10 Sqn and some Gnats which were used in an air defence role.
Uttarlai received a fair share of enemy attention including one
particular daring raid in which a Marut was shot up while on the take
off run by Starfighters. Luckily the pilot extricated himself from the
burning aircraft in time. The Scorpios had to wait until the last three
days of the war to draw their first blood. Mr. Pushpindar Singh Chopra
narrates the details of the first encounter in this sector:
Prior to the afternoon
of 16 December MiG-21s escorting HAL HF-24 Maruts on lo-lo-lo profile
ground attack missions had also flown at low altitude, normally pulling
up to 500 m (1700 ft) and establishing a CAP circuit while the Maruts
went into attack, but on this occasion the two MiG-21s detailed as
escort for four Maruts on a low level strike mission against targets
along the Naya Chor-Mirpur axis flew at about 6,560 ft (2000 m). After
strafing enemy vehicles and gun pit just beyond the bomb line, the
Marut leader elected to drift further west in a quest for targets of
opportunity.
As the Maruts
established an attack pattern, one of the Mig-21 pilots, Flt.Lt Samar
Bikram Shah spotted what he took
to be a Cessna 0-1 Bird Dog. Descending in low level tight turn to
confirm the identity of the aircraft, Shah, glancing back instinctively
to ensure that his tail was clear, saw two Pakistani MiG-19's closing
at six o'clock and at a distance of about 1640 yards (1500 m), while a
third MiG-19 was perched higher. With his MiG-21 now down to about 650
feet (200 m), Shah immediately engaged reheat and pulled up the nose of
his fighter. The two MiG-19s that had been closing with Shah's aircraft
made no attempt to follow the MiG-21 in its vertical maneuver, but
instead, dipped their noses and
commenced flying in a tight circle some 160 ft (50 m) above the flat
desert terrain, the third MiG-19 in the meanwhile disappeared.
Shah's wingman, Flying Officer Dinesh Arora, called in that he was
covering the Maruts, which had completed their attack and were heading
back at low level. So Shah decided to take on the PAF aircraft,
carrying out four or five yo-yos in an attempt not to overshoot the
MiG-19s, noting that the second PAF fighter was evidently having
difficulty keeping position with his No.1 and was mushing badly. After
some seconds, the second MiG-19 gave up the attempt to stay with his
No.1 and headed away practically on the deck. The MiG-19 leader
continued a half circle and, too, broke away in the direction, as it
happened of a Marut. This gave Shah the opportunity to get behind the
PAF fighter, firing a burst of 23-mm cannonfire from about 650 yards
(600 m) at a high angle off, the MiG-19 immediately turning over and
flying straight into the ground.
The
"Chukker" and low level chase had lasted some three minutes, and
dangerously low on fuel, Shah put his MiG-21 into climbing 180 deg
turn, gaining as much sky as possible before cutting down on engine
rpm, reached his base with the fuel gauges tapping empty, went straight
in to land and exhausted his last fuel as he taxied to dispersal.
The Indian armed forces deployed in the area intercepted enemy radio communications indicating that one F-6 failed to return after the interaction. Later the wreckage of the downed F-6 was located.
MIG-21FL, serial number: C754 was the aircraft flown by Flt Lt Samar Shah to shoot down the F-6.
(courtesy: Wingman Aviation and Bharat Rakshak)
On
December 17th, the last day of the war, the Scorpios were to end their
role in the conflict in a dramatic way. Sqn. Ldr. Iqbal Singh
Bindra(aka Bindi) was airborne on the early morning CAP over Uttarlai
in the Rajasthan desert when the ground controller alerted him about a
low-lying intruder coming in from the north towards the airfield. The
aircraft, was now identified as a Starfighter as it rose to 1000 feet
altitude in its run to the airfield. Bindra pulled his MiG in a wide
turn engaging the afterburner which bought him astern of the
Starfighter.
Bindra
launched his first K-13 which was evaded by the Starfighter. Bindra
launched his second K-13 which overtook the Starfighter and exploded
near the cockpit, due to the proximity fuse. The F-104 now wavered and
appeared to go out of control. Bindra engaged reheat closed in and gave
a cannon burst at a high deflection before breaking away. The F-104 now
doomed, rapidly descended and crashed into some dunes and exploded some
8 km from the airfield in our territory.
Hardly
as the elation over this kill died off, came another encounter. An hour
after Bindra's kill, two MiGs were launched as an escort to four Maruts
on a ground attack mission. The MiGs were being flown by Flt. Lt. Niraj
"Kuki" Kukreja and Flt. Lt. Arun "Buzz" Datta.
On
approaching Umarkot, Kukreja spotted two bogeys dead ahead and called
out a warning on the R/T. Datta saw two rapidly growing dots head-on
and observed a smoke trail emerge from one of the closing in dots. The
Starfighter had launched a sidewinder head-on in panic. Datta engaged
the afterburner and pulled up in a steep climb to 5000 feet and then
half rolled onto his back.
The
Starfighter had by then pulled up and passed by at amazing speed. Datta
could make out it was camouflaged in the sandy desert scheme, a
probable candidate from the Royal Jordanian Air Force. The Starfighter
now went into a turn and tried to get behind Kukreja's MiG. Datta
warned over the R/T "hard starboard, bogey behind you, 2000 meters and
closing".
Kukreja
who was going after the second bogey now engaged maximum afterburner
and was able to maintain the distance between them. Now the first
Starfighter broke off Kukreja's tail and headed for low level with
Datta following him. At an low altitude of some 1600 feet, Datta closed
in on the Starfighter and achieving his missile lock, launched both the
K-13s. He was already switching over to his gun, incase the missiles
missed when the Starfighter exploded.
The
Maruts were already warned of the presence of the Starfighters and that
the MiGs were engaging them. Kukreja in fact was on the tail of the
second bogey. Earlier the first F-104 took a shot at Kukreja's MiG and
missed. Now in the desert skies the F-104 and the MiG were flying tail
chase barely 150 feet above ground. The Starfighter can outrun the MiG
at this altitude using reheat. Kukreja launched his first K-13 which
missed. The second K-13 exploded besides the F-104, obviously injuring
the pilot. Seconds later the stricken F-104 crashed into the sand dunes
witnessed by hundreds of ground troops in the area. The MiGs rejoined
their Maruts and resumed regular mission profile(courtesy Bharat
Rakshak).
All four of the Scorpios Heroes were awarded Vir Chakra's after the war for their successful kills.
Flt.Lt
Samar Shah flew in the 1972 "Victory Flypast" over Palam, in
celebration of India's heroic victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war.
He donates the yearly cash entitlement he recieves for the Vir Chakra to the War Widows Fund. This he has done
since recieving the award.
|
Home
Cadet
SQ220
1965 War
SQ27
SQ29
1971 War
SQ8
A.D.C
