No.15 Squadron Flying Lances Motto : Nihantavya Shatrava (Anhillate the Enemy) Date Raised : 1951-08-20 Location : Sirsa 15 Squadron, Air Force was formed on 2 August 1951 at Ambala. The Squadron was equipped with Spitfire MK-XVIII. In 1953, the Squadron was number plated and all the Spit Fires were allotted to the newly formed Air Force Academy. The Squadron was re-formed at Ambala on 26 November 1964, equipped with Folland Gnat aircraft. In April 1969, the Units moved to Bagdogra. In 1975, the Lances, moved to Pune and converted onto the supersonic MiG-21 Bis aircraft. In the year 1981, the Squadron moved to Bhuj. In 1983, the "Flying Lances" were the first MiG-21 Bis squadron in the Air Force to be modified for the Matra Magic R55, air to air missiles. The squadron was again number plated in 2009 and re-raised in 2012 on the Su-30 at Sirsa AFS. become the first operational fighter squadron to be armed with indigenous Astra BVR air to air missiles.
Aircraft Types operated over the years: |
Commanding Officers | |||||
Dates | Rank & Name | Number | Remarks | Location | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 Aug 51 to 26 Jan 53 | Squadron Leader Edul Jahangir Dhatigara | 1899 GD(O) | CO | Halwara | |
28 Nov 64 to 17 Dec 65 | Wing Commander Minoo Jehangir Dotiwalla | 3839 GD(P) | CO | Ambala | |
03 Jan 66 to 28 Apr 69 | Wing Commander Chandra Kant Viswanath Gole | 3652 GD(P) | CO | Ambala | |
26 Jun 69 to 15 Feb 72 | Wing Commander Man Mohan Singh | 4023 GD(P) | CO | Bagdogra | |
03 Mar 72 to 21 Jan 74 | Wing Commander Parmarthi Raina | 4650 GD(P) | CO | Bagdogra | |
01 Feb 74 to 31 Oct 76 | Wing Commander Manjunath Sadanand | 4994 GD(P) | CO | Bagdogra/ Pune | |
01 Nov 76 to 09 Dec 79 | Wing Commander Om Prakash Mullick | 5377 GD(P) | CO | Pune | |
10 Dec 79 to 16 Nov 81 | Wing Commander Adi Rustomji Ghandhi | 7722 GD(P) | CO | Pune/ Bhuj | |
11 Jan 82 to 11 Oct 83 | Wing Commander Devinder Singh Sant | 8157 GD(P) | CO | Bhuj | |
12 Oct 83 to 08 Jan 85 | Wing Commander Pradip Kantilal Gandhi | 8142 GD(P) | CO | Bhuj | |
08 Jul 85 to 23 Jun 87 | Wing Commander Balakrishna Menon | 11307 GD(P) | CO | Bhuj | |
24 Jun 87 to 15 May 89 | Wing Commander Yashwant Rao Rane | 12210 GD(P) | CO | Bhuj | |
16 May 89 to 11 Feb 90 | Wing Commander Pushpendra Singh | 12512 GD(P) | CO | Bhuj | |
12 Feb 90 to 10 Mar 92 | Wing Commander Rajinder Chandra Uppal | 12929 F(P) | CO | Bhuj | |
10 Mar 92 to 24 Apr 94 | Wing Commander Jasbir Singh Panesar | 13370 F(P) | CO | Bhuj | |
25 Apr 94 to 19 Nov 95 | Wing Commander Ramesh Malhotra | 13590 F(P) | CO | ||
20 Nov 95 to 19 Jan 98 | Wing Commander Prakash Babulal Patel | 14555 F(P) | CO | ||
20 Jan 98 to 18 Jun 00 | Wing Commander Shirish Baban Deo | 15681 F(P) | CO | ||
19 Jun 00 to 29 Sep 02 | Wing Commander Rajiv Dayal Mathur | 16772 F(P) | CO | ||
30 Sep 02 to 27 Jun 04 | Wing Commander Diptendu Choudhury | 17335 F(P) | CO | ||
28 Jun 04 to 11 Jun 06 | Wing Commander Rajiv Kumar Obheroi | 18784 F(P) | CO | ||
12 Jun 06 to 06 Apr 08 | Wing Commander Jasvir Singh Mann | 20491 F(P) | CO | ||
07 Apr 08 to 30 Jun 09 | Wing Commander Kolal Krishnamurthy Venugopal | 20459 F(P) | CO |