Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Mock air battle enthrals crowds

Thiruvananthapuram: Fortune seemed to have favoured the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Sunday. “It has always rained in the city on the morning of July 20 for the past five years. This year, we seemed to have held the sky back,” said Air Vice- Marshal Rajendra Singh in charge of air operations of the IAF Southern Air Command (SAC).

The weather was truly benign. The IAF pilots participating in the air show to mark the silver jubilee of the SAC had a clear and almost cloudless sky in the middle of the monsoon to showcase their skills and the might of their machines.

A huge holiday crowd thronged the Shanghumugham beach to view the air show that began at 10 a.m. The highlight was a mock air battle between two Russian- made Sukhoi 30 MKI air dominance fighters of the Number 8 Pursuit Squadron and the U.K.-made Jaguar deep penetration strike bombers of the Number 6 Dragon Squadron.

The ‘dog fight’ occurred low over the sea, a few hundred metres from the coastline. The roar of the twisting, turning, climbing and diving fighter jets drowned the sound of the sea for a few enthralling moments.

The Sukhois took off from Pune, refuelled from an IL-78 tanker over Kochi and appeared low over the Valiathura pier at 10.10 a.m. The Sukhois climbed to 2,000 feet and circled over the beach in combat air patrol formation. Four Jaguars appeared over the pier and raced parallel to the beach in attack formation.

The Sukhois orbiting overhead peeled off in opposite directions and swooped down on the Jaguars for a “gun kill.”

The bombers executed low level inverted turns to throw the interceptors off their tail. The Jaguars “jettisoned their payload far away from the target to gain escape speed” and raced away from the Sukhois. The fighters executed a ‘victory roll’ to proclaim their triumph.

The Sukhois made a few hard turns over the spectators and one of the fighters broke formation to display the aircraft’s low speed manoeuvring capability. A Coast Guard vessel and a Navy ship supported the IAF operation.

The vessels were tasked to carry out search-and-rescue if any fighter pilot had to eject from his aircraft. Bird watchers equipped with wireless sets were on the ground to warn pilots. The demonstration was in an imaginary rectangle box 15 nautical-mile-long and 10 nautical-mile-wide.

Four subsonic Hindustan Mark-II jet trainer aircraft of the Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) executed their 20 minute routine. The air show began with a fly past by MI-8 medium lift helicopters of the 109 ‘Knights’ Squadron. Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Kerala Governor R.S. Gavai, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major, Air Marshal S.C. Mukul and Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma, head of the ruling family of erstwhile Travancore, were present.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Computer training
Velu Thampy Dalawa statue to be unveiled
NSS training postponed
Employees to strike work today
LDF-UDF tussle to blame, says BJP
DYFI to put Manmohan on ‘ trial’
IAF recruitment
KC(J) to vote against UPA government
Resistance to plan for pension through banks
Railway staff to form new union
Work apace on aircraft maintenance base
Automobile workshop owner arrested
Mock air battle enthrals crowds
Veterans of daredevil operations
In Thiruvananthapuram Today

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu