Sirsa Air Force Station

Sirsa Air Force Station or Sirsa AFS (ICAO airport code VISX) is a Forward Support Base Unit (FSBU) of Indian Air Force's (IAF) Western Air Command (WAC), located at Sirsa in the state of Haryana, India.[4]

Sirsa Air Force Station


Sirsa Vayu Sena Chhawni

सिरसा वायु सेना छावनी
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OwnerIndian Air Force
OperatorWestern Air Command
LocationSirsa, Haryana
OccupantsNo. 21 Squadron IAF
No. 15 Squadron IAF
Time zoneIST (UTC+05:30)
Elevation AMSL198 m / 650 ft
Coordinates29°33′42″N 75°00′21″E
Map
VISX
Location of airport in India
VISX
VISX (India)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
5/23 1,066 3,500 Concrete / Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Hub for the number of airlines0
Number of scheduled airlines flying in0
Number of scheduled weekly flights0
Number of scheduled flight passengers0

History
See also: Airports in Haryana, Aviation history of Haryana, Indian Air Force history, Civil Aviation History of India, World Aviation History, Aviation in India, and Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation

1964 Inception

In 1948, first airstrip was built in Haryana when Ambala Air Force Station was established. By 1964, the diversionary airforce airfields were ready at Sirsa as well as at Nal in Bikaner.[5]

1971 Indo-Pak war

In Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Pakistan Air Force launched preemptive raid on 12 airforce stations,[6] including Sirsa station, Faridlot Stations, Halwara Air Force Station, few railway stations, Indian armour concentrations and other targets but failed to cause any significant damage except the pothole damage to the runway which was quickly repaired.[7] Dassault Mystère jets pounded the Pakistan Army pitched against the Indian Army in the Battle of Sabuna Drain, Dassault Mystère also hit a train and destroyed 50 tanks on it between Okara and Sahiwal. On 5 December 1971, Dassault Mystère jets from the Sirsa station hit fuel dump at Changa Manga. On 7 Dec 1971, more trains carrying fuel and tanks were destroyed at Chishtian.[8] During the war the Dassault Mystère losses from Sirsa stations were - Sqn. Ldr. J.D. Kumar killed, Sqn. Ldr. Anukul ejected, Flt. Lt. Das ejected after his engine flammed out.[9] Airport authorities trained the volunteers from among the RSS workers and deployed them for the airport security.[10]

Runway

There is one runway, aligned north-east to south-west (05-23).

Units

It has No. 21 Squadron IAF of 45 Wing. Wing is an active air force combat formation. No. 15 Squadron IAF operating Su-30MKI is also based here.[11][12]

Originally the base was home to a squadron each of MiG-23s and MiG-27s, both single-engine fighters, of No. 21 Squadron IAF.[13]

Sirsa was amongst nine airfields in the Western Air Command (WAC) for the Modernisation of Air Field Infrastructure programme (MAFI), started in 2009, and due its proximity to the Delhi, work at the station which included equipping it with sensitive radars was complete by 2011, when the first of six C-130J Hercules tactical transport aircraft bought from USA arrived, to be used exclusively by the Special Forces (SF) (Garud Commando Force). Hindon Air Force Station was designated to become home base for these aircraft, and for this purpose, the Hindon runway was extended and modern hangars, servicing and operations facilities suitable for the C-130J aircraft were added.[14][15]

It has a total of 40 aeroplanes, of which 20 are used for defence.

See also

References
  1. World Airport Codes.
  2. Information of Sirsa Air Force Base, airport-data.com, accessed 25 Nov 2014
  3. Sirsa Air Station, Wikimapia, accessed 25 Nov 2014
  4. "Air Force Day Fly Past an Appeal". PIB, Ministry of Defence. 26 September 2006.
  5. PC Lal, My Years with the IAF.
  6. Om Prakash Maurya, 2017, Babu Jagjivan Ram.
  7. A.S. Ahluwalia, 2012, [ Airborne to Chairborne: Memoirs of a War Veteran Aviator-Lawyer of the India Air Force].
  8. Jasjit Singh, 2013, Defence from the Skies: 80 Years of the Indian Air Force: 80 Years.
  9. PC Lal, My Years with the IAF
  10. January 28, 1971, Organiser, Volume 25, Page 26.
  11. "Indian Air Force to raise four more squadrons of Su-30 MKI fighter". 5 October 2012.
  12. "IAF's top guns brave extreme Alaska". 11 May 2016.
  13. No. 3 Squadron, Indian Air Force Bharat Rakshak
  14. "Hindon gets more airpower". MiD DAY. 22 May 2009.
  15. "IAF's first C-130J airlifter to arrive this week". Economic Times. 16 January 2011. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012.
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