The two anti-submarine warfare shallow watercraft built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited were launched by Neeta Chaudhari, wife of Chief of Air Staff of Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari.
Last week, two BSF troopers from Rajasthan, members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Congo, were killed by protestors. Do we need to lose lives fighting in a country not ours, in a war that is not ours and for a cause that is not ours, asks Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), who served in the UNPKF in Congo.
On the 20th anniversary of the first flight of the Tejas, we must congratulate the entire team who made sure that the LCA flew and returned safely on January 4, 2001, sowing the seed for development of a state-of-the-art fighter airplane that our country so badly needed, says IAF veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
Slogans for his long afterlife rented the air, as coffin of Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal arrived at his home in Jinder Mehlu hamlet of border belt of R S Pura, where thousands of people gathered to pay their last respects to the fighter pilot.
A helicopter on a training sortie made an emergency landing on the terrace of a five-storey residential apartment building in Bangalore on Thursday due to a technical snag, but both the pilot and the trainee on board are safe, authorities said.
'My adrenalin kicked in and the happiness returned! It was time to go in for the kill again.' IAF Veterans Group Captain Dilip Kumar Dass tells Air Commodore Nitin Sathe about how the IAF decimated tanks in the famous Battle of Longewala.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's helicopter has been traced, an Air Force official stated on Thursday morning."We have located the helicopter. It is on top of a hill. It is located at a distance of 40 nautical miles east of Kurnool," an IAF official told mediapersons on Thursday.He added that the IAF had already sent two helicopters to the area, which were looking for a place to land. "But it is on top of a hill, in a jungle, so it is difficult," he said.
An Indian Air Force special rescue team on Thursday rescued Canadian diplomat, Andrew Norfolk, his injured wife and their three children trapped in snow in Dhauladhar ranges, north of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, since Wednesday.
A Few Good Men and the Angry Sea: 2004 Tsunami, the IAF Story, is the incredible story of survival, guts, resilience and indomitable spirit of the air warriors and their families, civilians and the government's efforts in rebuilding the strategically important military Car Nicobar air base.
The operation to fully sanitise the Pathankot Air base, which was attacked by six terrorists last Saturday, is "close to completion" with the personnel of the National Security Guard, the army and the Garud commandos of Indian Air Force undertaking the task on the sprawling complex.
The military aircraft crashed soon after taking off on a routine mission from Gorakhpur.
The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The jet took off for a practice flight at around 1.00 pm with Squadron Leader Pandey piloting it.
'To me, this is true patriotism - not deciding who should and should not say 'Bharat Mata ki jai,' in what language, with what inflexion, at what time, etc, but the recognition that the Indians who protected our country and the military traditions that made those men, must be honoured,' says Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Valhalla is undoubtedly enriched by the presence of Unnikrishnan Gangadharan Kartha. He would have already convened the 'fall in' and regaled his friends with tales of the distant land that they once inhabited.
This is not a train for the regular commuter, evident from the number of large sized bags in the overhead bin, observes IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
Former IAF officer R Gopalaswami said the re-entry temperature would have been so high that the bodies of the astronauts would have been vaporised before their brains would have realised it.
What does a fighter pilot feel as he takes off and lands his battle-ready aircraft? Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd) takes you through those emotions.
Avani Chaturvedi flew a MiG-21 bison in her first training solo sortie, in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
The entire base must be spic and span with flags fluttering along the roads. Everything that moves will be washed and bedecked with the best while everything that is static will be painted afresh, observes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
'... To ensure that the vast Indian Ocean Region remain peaceful.'
'Imagine hanging from a thin steel cable under a helicopter with certain death staring at you below, being pulled up slowly in the din and downwash of the helicopter.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, a helicopter pilot himself, reports on how the air force rescued those trapped in the Deoghar cable cars disaster last fortnight.
India and China held a special round of military talks on Tuesday at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in Eastern Ladakh to discuss air space violations and provocations by the Chinese side in that area in the last 45 days.
In a record time of 13 years, the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant is now ready for formal induction into the Indian Navy.
Rescue and relief operations continued in full swing in Chennai with over a hundred people taken to safety by teams of Army, IAF and NDRF, including a seven-month pregnant woman who was airlifted on Thursday from one of the worst-affected areas in the flooded city.
The success of the flight has sent the aspirations of the defence establishment soaring with plans being made to design a Medium Combat Aircraft.
Air Commodore Nitin Sathe discovers how the IAF trained Pakistani air force pilots, during the 1971 War, which led to the birth of the Bangladesh air force.
'Windows shook and rattled, and the thunderous growl of the engines doused even the sound of our noisy helicopter till such time the plane had lifted itself into the skies and disappeared from view.'
'...and then get scaled down somewhat.' 'It will be difficult for any side to occupy meaningful territories, maybe just a bit here and there, and the destruction may vary on either side.'
'All enemy positions lay exposed, providing immense information to the Indian Army and IAF to conduct successful flushing out operations.'
He visited areas falling under the operational command of the Rising Star Corps, including Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Pathankot, to review the security situation.
Intermittent blasts and exchange of fire to neutralise two more terrorists continued on Sunday night at Air Force Station in Pathankot, Punjab where four terrorists were killed, seven security men lost their lives and 17 persons were injured in the over 40-hour-long operation.
'Not a single bullet was fired, but we were warning the enemy not to continue with their antics!' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe finds out how the Light Combat Helicopter, which will be inducted into the IAF on October 3, was designed, developed and flown.
'Me and my boys had never ever thought in our wildest dreams that we would be taking part in a rescue mission of this kind.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, a helicopter pilot himself, reports on how the air force rescued those trapped in the Deoghar cable cars disaster last fortnight.
On the parade ground are sons of jawans, farmers, LIC agents, daily wage farm labourers, shopkeepers... all living their moment of triumph; their faces bright with the possibilities that lie ahead.
Up in the Sky, Helicopter Stories takes us through the exotic and even charming world that Nitin Sathe has lived as an Indian Air Force pilot, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
'We should have seen these signals and reacted earlier.' 'We miss out on a certain strategic advantage by arriving late on the scene.'
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