On 01 March 2014, Wing Commander Huvey Upadhyaya while on an air maintenance sortie in Siachen region received an urgency message from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) stating that an Army ALH helicopter had not returned to Base Camp and was not contactable. Wg Cdr Upadhyaya displayed courage, initiative and high situational awareness in reacting to the prevalent situation. He offloaded his helicopter at the helipad and set course in search & rescue of the overdue Army helicopter. Undeterred by the fast deteriorating weather and discounting his personal safety, he continued searching for the helicopter. He located the wreckage of the crashed helicopter at an altitude of 17, 600 feet. The terrain of the crash site was undulating, mired by deep crevasses covered with soft snow and had a high slope gradient. The strong winds prevalent at that time made landing the helicopter in the area an extremely difficult task. Even a delay of five minutes would have led to closure of the weather window and the rescue opportunity would have been lost. This would have led to certain death of the pilots of the crashed helicopter due to extreme cold, high altitude, shock and injuries. Exhibiting utmost courage and exceptional flying skills, Wg Cdr Huvey Upadhhyaya landed his helicopter in between the crevasses near the crash site. While on partial power, he hovered his helicopter ensuring that edge of the helicopter ski was in light contact with the soft snow and rescued the injured pilots. Throughout this operation, he was under constant threat of enemy observation. Even a slight mishandling of helicopter controls during the operation would have led to a catastrophic accident. Through his valiant act under trying and near impossible conditions, he saved the lives of two army pilots and accentuated the spirit of jointmanship.

For his act of exceptional courage, resolute determination and extraordinary flying skills, Wing Commander Huvey Upadhyaya was awarded of SHAURYA CHAKRA.

Wing Commander Sandeep Singh (25336) Flying (Pilot) is posted to a Mi-17 V5 Helicopter Unit as Flight Commander since 13 January 2014. He is Fully Ops holding Cat/IR A/MG, Instrument Rating Instructor and Examiner on Mi-17 helicopter.

On 21 November 2014 at 1610 hrs, he received a mission from Anti Naxal Task Force Commander to evacuate casualties from a forest area in Sukma district of Chattisgarh. The CRPF troops during combat ops had come under heavy fire from Naxals resulting in five serious troop casualties who needed immediate evacuation for life saving and to tilt operations in favour of own troops. Time was extremely critical and mission involved a high threat quotient. Despite the potent threat to life and tremendous risk involved, he obtained the go ahead for the mission and led the mission himself after meticulous planning. He got airborne with medical team onboard in the shortest possible time at 1635hrs.

Updates on intelligence inputs and co-ordinates of exact location of casualties were taken on R/T. Prudent, quick and considered decisions were taken in flight, to alter course and approaching the area in reciprocal direction to retain element of surprise and to ensure mission execution safely. The experience of operational experience of Wg Cdr Sandeep Singh came in handy and with precision handling he landed the helicopter next to the casualties with rotors just clear of the tree line in a clear patch in the jungle. The landing area had the limitation of a sloping surface and was prone to dust. Five extremely critical casualties were quickly taken in and helicopter with 22 souls onboard lifted off from the jungle at close to Sun set. Sensing the threat all around, he carried out a "Vertical out of Ground Take Off" in the only available direction. At this critical juncture the helicopter came under a burst of fire from automatic weapons. Undeterred and unfazed, he maintained his composure and courageously carried out evasive manoeuvres to minimize the exposure. Due to his deft handling of the situation the causalities were minimized and only one crew and one other person onboard sustained bullet hits with the aircraft remaining fly worthy. He continued leading the mission as it grew dark over the jungles of Bastar range. His exceptional courage, excellent professionalism and calm composure against odds not only saved fives lives but also altered the course of encounter for the ground troops.

For the selfless act of exceptional courage and conspicuous gallantry, Wing Commander Sandeep Singh is recommended for the award of Shaurya Chakra.

Corporal Nilesh Kumar Nayan was deployed with Rashtriya Rifles in Counter Insurgency role in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir. Based on specific intelligence input about the presence of a group of terrorists, a cordon was laid at night on 10 Oct 17 for search operations on the outskirts of Hajin village. Corporal Nayan was in the inner cordon along with his track leader as stop party towards the rear of the target house.

At 0440 hrs on 11 Oct 17, five to six heavily armed terrorists charged out of their hideout, firing with automatic weapons and lobbing grenades directly towards the position of Corporal Nayan. Corporal Nayan was quick to respond and retaliated by heavy and accurate fire thereby containing the terrorists and preventing their escape. During the ensuing gun battle, his track leader was injured by bullet and shrapnel. He provided covering fire to ensure the safety of his comrade. The terrorists now directed massive fire towards his position due to which he was hit by a volley of bullets. However, Corporal Nayan displayed exemplary courage and in the highest traditions of military, held his ground. In spite of serious injuries, he killed one terrorist. The remaining terrorists now closed-in on to his position and directed all firing towards him. In the consequent battle with the escaping terrorists, Corporal Nayan fired at another terrorist and injured him. However in the melee, he suffered fatal bullet injuries and attained martyrdom. During the mission, Corporal Nilesh Kumar Nayan displayed extreme valour, highest order of camaraderie and with total disregard to personal safety made the supreme sacrifice for the nation.

For this display of raw courage, valiant gallantry and making the supreme sacrifice, Corporal Nilesh Kumar Nayan has been awarded Shaurya Chakra (Posthumous).

Sergeant Khairnar Milind Kishor was deployed with Rashtriya Rifles in Counter Insurgency role in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir. Based on specific intelligence input about the presence of a group of terrorists, a cordon was laid on the night of 10 Oct 17 for search operations on the outskirts of Hajin village. Sergeant Milind was in the inner cordon as stop party towards the rear of the target house.

On 11 Oct 17, at 0440 hrs, a group of five to six heavily armed terrorists charged out of their hiding place firing automatic weapons and grenades directly towards the position held by Sergeant Milind. Sergeant Milind retaliated by firing back at the terrorists and pinned them down with his accurate fire. However, due to the intense and concentrated fire from automatic weapons and grenades lobbed by terrorists, Sergeant Milind was hit by flurry of bullets and shrapnel. In spite of being grievously injured and being under heavy fire, the airwarrior disregarding his personal safety, held his position and maintained precise fire and cut off the escape route of the terrorists. With the escape route blocked, terrorists resorted to indiscriminate firing and closed-in towards Sergeant Milind. In the resulting close quarter fight, Sergeant Milind shot down one terrorist and grievously injured another. However, due to dense and persistent firing by the surviving terrorists, Sergeant Milind was hit by bullets and was critically injured. He was evacuated to 92 Base Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Sergeant Khairnar Milind Kishor displayed bravery of the highest order and in this confrontation lead the attack against the terrorist.

For his indomitable spirit, exceptional courage, disregard of personal safety in the face of enemy and for making the supreme sacrifice, Sergeant Khairnar Milind Kishor has been awarded Shaurya Chakra (Posthumous).

Corporal Devendra Mehta was attached for active counter insurgency operations with 13 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion under the aegis of 'Op Rakshak' in Jammu & Kashmir. On 18 Nov 17, based on specific tech intelligence, an offensive was launched jointly by the Garud detachment and 13 RR in Chanderger village of Bandipora district in J&K. The Garud detachment covertly approached the target house where the suspected terrorists were hiding and laid a close quarter ambush. Corporal Mehta was assigned the role of buddy of LMG man. He exhibited exceptional situational awareness and effective combat skills while deployed in the cordon. He helped establish a speculative and deadly field of fire with his buddy, thereby sealing the likely escape routes of the terrorists. While the detachment laid in wait, six terrorists hiding in the house, rushed out, shooting and lobbing grenades at the Garuds. Corporal Mehta demonstrated indomitable courage by retaliating with effective, accurate lethal fire and gunned down one category 'A' terrorist named Abu Qital (LeT front man in North Kashmir). To counter other advancing terrorists, he readjusted his arc of fire and provided cover to the LMG man, being fully aware of the risk of being exposed to automatic gunfire. Cpl Mehta disregarding personal safety, displayed indomitable courage while assisting in the evacuation of his buddy Corporal Nirala who was critically injured in the gun fight and took over the LMG to retaliate in order to neutralise the six terrorists. For this act of gallantry, Corporal Devendra Mehta has been awarded Shaurya Chakra.

On 21 September 2020, during a sortie from the front cockpit of a Su-30 aircraft, he experienced unprecedented and vicious oscillations in the longitudinal and lateral planes with gravitational forces rapidly varying from +9G to -1.5G, coupled with the aircraft uncontrollably banking to the left and other control failure indications. Overcoming ‘black-out’ conditions encountered due to the extremely high ‘G’ conditions, he manually dampened the aircraft oscillations and also checked the safety of his weapon system operator. While controlling the aircraft, he turned away from populated area to ensure no loss of civilian life or property in case of a probable ejection. As he initiated a priority recovery, the aircraft once again encountered vicious oscillations, with the control of the aircraft requiring large amount of pressures on the control column by the pilot.

The officer applied his superior systems knowledge and opted for some unconventional recovery actions. As a result of his judgement and skilful handling, the oscillations reduced and the aircraft was recovered safely. During these life-threatening circumstances, the pilot maintained his composure, displayed exemplary courage and maintained his presence of mind. His superior piloting skills ensured safety of a national asset worth hundreds of crores of Rupees and precluded possible damage to life and property on ground in case of an ejection.

For this act of exceptional gallantry, exemplary standards of professionalism and contribution to aerospace safety, Group Captain Perminder Antil has been conferred with the Shaurya Chakra.

On 12 Oct 20, he was flying a system check sortie in LCA, away from parent base, after major rectification of Flight Control System (FCS) and pressurisation system (life support environment control system).

During the sortie, the cockpit pressurisation failed at high altitude. He correctly identified the failure and initiated a descent to lower altitude for landing. While descending, the Flight Control System failed and led to total loss of control of the aircraft. This was an unprecedented catastrophic failure that had never occurred. There was a rapid loss of altitude while in usual attitude, with the aircraft pitching up and down viciously going to the extremities of G limits. Despite being in extreme physical and mental stress in an extreme life-threatening situation, he maintained exemplary composure and regained control of the aircraft, thereby exhibiting exceptional flying skill. Soon thereafter, at about 10,000 feet, the aircraft again experienced total loss of control with vicious manoeuvring and uncontrollable pitching. Under such a scenario, the pilot was at liberty to abandon aircraft. Faced with a potential hazard to his own life, he displayed extraordinary courage and skill to safely land the fighter aircraft. The pilot went beyond the call of duty and landed the aircraft taking calculated risks. This allowed an accurate analysis of the fault on the indigenously designed fighter and further institution of preventive measures against recurrence. Due to his high order of professionalism, composure and quick decision making, even at the peril to his life, he not only averted the loss of an LCA, but also safeguarded civilian property and population on ground.

For this act of exceptional gallantry, Wg Cdr Varun Singh is conferred with the Shaurya Chakra.