Armament Training Wing


Date Raised : 1951-04-01 Disbanded : 1978-04-21 Location : Jamnagar
After Independence, the IAF setup the Armament Training Wing for Air to Ground and Air to Air Armament training. It had an air to ground range at Sarmat and and air to air range in gulf of Kutch near the coastal strip of Jodhya - Balachandi. The ATW had a staff of PAIs (Pilot Attack instructors) who conducted the training. It has no aircrafts of its own except a few Dakotas. The ATW staff was considered the cream the fighter pilots. In 1957-58 a PAI School (Pilot Attack Instructors) was formed to train instructors. A new Air to Air range was bought into Gulf of Arabia. In 1964, a new operational Conversion Units (OCU) was formed with Hunter aircraft. the PAI school was closed in 1975. OCU moved out and TACDE moved in. On 22 April 1978, ATW was converted into a operational wing by the name of 33 Wing.

Aircraft Types operated over the years:

Commanding Officers

View in Grid

DatesRank & NameNumberRemarksLocationPhoto
01 Apr 51 to 11 Oct 52Wing Commander Padam Singh Gill1656 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
12 Oct 52 to 05 Oct 55Wing Commander Sidney Basil Noronha1735 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
06 Oct 55 to 15 Jun 58Wing Commander Keki Nadirshah Gocal1764 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
01 Jul 58 to 09 Feb 60Group Captain Om Prakash Mehra1639 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
10 Feb 60 to 23 Apr 63Group Captain Ramachandra Balaji Godkhindi1760 GD(O)Stn CdrJamnagar
24 Apr 63 to 14 Jan 64Group Captain Pothery Charuvary Ramachandran3514 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
15 Jan 64 to 09 Oct 66Group Captain George Henry King2386 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
10 Oct 66 to 03 Apr 68Group Captain Shamrao Ramrao Powar3100 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
04 Apr 68 to 01 Mar 72Group Captain Peter Maynard Wilson3590 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
02 Mar 72 to 05 Jan 75Group Captain Surapati Bhattacharya3974 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
06 Jan 75 to 14 Mar 76Group Captain Surendra Kumar Mehra4197 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
15 Mar 76 to 01 Jan 78Group Captain Mohinder Singh Bawa4494 GD(P)Stn CdrJamnagar
Unit continued existence as 33 Wing

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