No.1 Squadron

[Ittehad Mein Shakti Hai]

[(Strenght through War)]

Ekta mein Shakti

(Strength in Unity)

Callsign : Tigers

Nato Tiger Association status : honorary member

The early history of 1 Squadron is synonymous with the history of the Indian Air Force.  It was formed on the day the Indian Air Force received its first batch of trained pilots from RAF Cranwell, 1st April 1933.  They were equipped with the Westland Wapiti IIA.

The years 1933 to 1937 were basically the formative years for the Squadron when it trained in its primary role of Army Co-operation. The rigorous training was to pay handsome dividends in September 1937 when its three flights operated from various locations in the North West frontier province against hostile tribesmen.

On 1st February 1942 they moved to Toungoo, 200 miles north of Rangoon, Burma, where their Lysanders saw operational service, including flying tactical recce missions and bombing Japanese airfields.  Later on, they moved to Lashio and Mingaladon where they provided tactical reconnaissance and Army Co-operation in support of the Chinese army operations.  In June 1942 they moved to Risalpur in order to convert onto the Hawker Hurricane I and later the Hurricane IIB.  On 3 February 1944, after converting onto the Hurricane Mk IIIE and mothering the raising of an additional Indian Air Force squadron, they went back to Imphal for recce missions to gauge Japanese intentions.  During the battle for Imphal (8 March – 3 July 1944), the Tigers were tasked to provide close air support to the 17th Indian division.  The squadron provided the much-needed close air support and helped the Allied forces to finally break through on 14 March 1944.  In the tactical reconnaissance role, they flew 4813 operational sorties, totalling 7219 hrs., returning to Kohat on India's North Western frontier in April 1945.  They lost 14 comrades during this periode.

After their return from Burma the Tigers continued to fly Hurricanes till November 1945 before converting to the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VIII.  For a short time operated both the Hurricane and Spitfire.

They received the Spitfire Mk.XIV in March 1947 before getting the Hawker Tempest II fighter bomber at Risalpur in May 1947.

At the time of partition in 1947, the shocking news was received that the Squadron was to go as the share for the newly partitioned Pakistani Air Force.  Accordingly, the Squadron assets were transferred to the Pakistan Air Force.  What was surprising was that there was no No.1 Squadron in the Pakistani Air Force. The assets received by the PAF were used for a No.5 Squadron.  So No.1 RIAF Squadron ceased to exist on 14th August 1947.

The premier Squadron of the Indian Air Force could not be kept dormant for too long.  The Tigers soon made a fresh beginning.  On 26th January 1953, No.15 Squadron was renumbered as No.1 Squadron, IAF at Halwara, with Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVIIIe's on its inventory.

In February 1953, the Tigers entered the jet age with re-equipment onto the De Havilland Vampire.  By August 1953, No. 1 Squadron had reached its full unit establishment of 16 Vampire FB.52's.

They moved to Palam and later Kalaikunda, where on 15th February 1957 they re-equipped with the Dassault Mystere IVa fighter bombers.

They saw service in the operation for liberation of Goa in December 1961.  The Squadron carried out fighter sweeps and strike missions.  They not only provided air superiority but also became a deterrent to force the Portuguese for an early surrender.  During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 they flew a total of 128 strike missions and 46 Combat Air Patrol sorties, notably counter-air strikes against Mushaf Air Base in Sargodha, Pakistan.

The squadron converted onto the MiG-21FL, a supersonic Mach-2 class, all weather interceptor, at Adampur between June and September 1966.

During the 1971 Indo Pakistan War their prime responsibility was the defence of Adampur and the surrounding north western Punjab.  They provided escort to strike missions, combat air patrols over Amritsar and Pathankot and finished the conflict having flown 518 sorties.

Post 1971 they moved to Gorakhpur in 1984 and later to Hashimara in 1985 where they completed 20 years on the MiG-21FL.

The first seven Mirage 2000s arrived on 21st June 1985, using them with great success during Operation Safed Sagar over Kargil between 3 May and 26 July 1999.  From Ambala, the Tigers were tasked for Elint (electronic intelligence intercepts) and AD/Escort (air-defence/escort) missions to Aviation Research Centre (India's imagery intelligence organisation) aircraft and strike missions.  A total of 234 operational sorties were flown from Ambala which included a few missions at night.  As a contingency, a few aircraft moved to Jodhpur, where the squadron flew 153 sorties consisting of AD/Escort missions.

The squadron successfully test fired a 'Beyond-visual-range' MICA (Missile d'Interception, de Combat et d'Auto-défense ('Interception, Combat and Self-protection Missile')) missile from a Mirage-2000 aircraft on 24 September 2016.  There are two MICA variants; MICA RF has an active radar homing seeker and MICA IR has an imaging infra-red homing seeker. Both seekers are designed to filter out counter-measures such as chaff and decoy flares. A thrust vector control unit fitted to the rocket motor increases the missile's agility. The missile is capable of lock-on after launch (LOAL) which means it is capable of engaging targets outside its seeker's at-launch acquisition range.

(all aircraft are to scale, not all drawings show an aircraft in 1 markings)

Aircraft

Westland Wapiti IIA (May 1933-October 1941)

Hawker Hart (September 1939-December 1940)

Hawker Audax (October 1939-December 1941)

Westland Lysander II (September 1941-July 1942)

Hawker Hurricane I (October 1942-May 1943)

Hawker Hurricane IIB (May 1943-August 1944)

Hawker Hurricane IIC (July 1944-March 1946)

Hawker Hurricane IV (October 1945-March 1946)

Noorduyn Harvard IIB (October 1945-May 1947)

Supermarine Spitfire VIII (December 1945-May 1947)

Supermarine Spitfire XIV (April 1947-May 1947)

Hawker Tempest II (July 1947-September 1947)

Supermarine Spitfire XVIII (February 1953-September 1953)

de Havilland DH100 Vampire FB.52 (March 1953-March 1957)

de Havilland DH100 Vampire T.55 (July 1953-March 1957)

Dassault Mystere IVa (June 1957-June 1966)

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21FL (June 1966-February 1986)

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21U (June 1967-February 1986)

Dassault Mirage 2000H/I (February 1986-present)

Dassault Mirage 2000TH/TI (February 1986-present)

No. 1 Squadron  (WW2 version, approved August 1940)

No. 1 Squadron  (official version)

No. 1 Squadron  (variation)

17th Indian Division

No. 5 Squadron "Falcons" Pakistan Air Force

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text & picture sources : own collection & library + the world wide web / No copyright infringement intended : drawings, photos, etc. belong to the rightful owners.