No.27 Squadron Flaming Arrows Motto : Durarakshya Saralakshya (Strike far, Strike Sure) Date Raised : 1957-02-15 Location : Gorakhpur 27 Squadron ‘Flaming Arrows’ was raised on 15 Feb 1957 at Adampur Air Base equipped with De Havilland Vampire. In Sep 1958, the squadron was re-equipped with Hawker Hunter Mk 56 and relocated to Ambala. Within years of rising, the squadron was embroiled in combat during Operation Vijay in Dec 1961 for Goa State liberation. In Apr 1965, Hunter Mk 56 was replaced with Mk 56A, and the squadron moved to Halwara Air Base. In Sep 1965, the squadron got the first confirmed kills for the Hunter Fighter in the history of air combat when Flt Lt DN Rathore and Fg Offr VK Neb shot down two Pakistani F86 Sabres. In the 1971 war, Operating from Pathankot, squadron Hunters continuously strafed enemy positions to assist the forward movement of the Indian Army. In Apr 1984, the squadron took part in Operation Meghdoot to capture the disputed Siachen Glacier and thus became the first Fighter squadron to have operated from Leh airfield at an elevation of 10,680 feet. Jan 1985 marked the squadron's entry into the supersonic club as it got equipped with Jaguar Deep Penetration Strike Aircraft at Gorakhpur AirBase. In 1996, the squadron was presented with coveted Presidential Colours. In May 1999, the squadron actively participated during the Kargil conflict in getting the captured Indian territory back from intruders. In 2001, the 27 squadron was the first to be deployed during ‘Operation Parakram’. In Mar 2003, the squadron initiated a new era of strategic reach for the IAF by being the first aircraft to carry out AAR (air-to-air refuelling) with IL-78 Flight Refueling Aircraft. The unit won the esteemed Chief of Air Staff citation of the Best Fighter Squadron’ for 2009-10. In 2022, the squadron was upgraded to the latest variant of Jaguar ‘DARIN-III’ and equipped with AESA Radar and modern Avionics, further enhancing the squadron's operational capabilities.
Aircraft Types operated over the years: |
Commanding Officers | |||||
15 Feb 57 - 23 Jan 58Squadron LeaderGeorge Douglas Clarke3295 GD(P)COPalam | | | 15 Nov 63 - 06 Nov 65Wing CommanderGeorge Douglas Clarke3295 GD(P)CO | 07 Nov 65 - 13 Apr 67Wing CommanderRobert Arnold Weir3881 GD(P)COHalwara | |
14 Apr 67 - 20 Jan 71Wing CommanderMian Naranjan Singh4340 GD(P)COHalwara | | 24 Sep 73 - 04 Mar 75Wing CommanderFarokh Jehangir Mehta4906 GD(P)CO | 05 Mar 75 - 20 Nov 76Wing CommanderRanjit Singh Bedi5120 GD(P)CO | 21 Nov 76 - 03 Dec 78Wing CommanderSherwin Derek Leslie Tully5270 GD(P)CO | |
04 Dec 78 - 23 Mar 81Wing CommanderManbir Singh6771 GD(P)CO | 24 Mar 81 - 19 Jun 83Wing CommanderSitaramaiah Pingali7674 GD(P)CO | 20 Jun 83 - 24 Sep 84Wing CommanderSuresh Shankarrao Dange6762 GD(P)CO | 25 Sep 84 - 25 Jun 86Wing CommanderMohan Kumar Prabhakar Samant9061 GD(P)CO | 26 Jun 86 - 07 Feb 88Wing CommanderNitin Madhukar Gupte11847 GD(P)COGorakhpur | |
08 Feb 88 - 04 Mar 90Wing CommanderSatish Kumar Sofat12207 GD(P)CO | 05 Mar 90 - 20 Oct 91Wing CommanderMurali Sundaram12369 GD(P)CO | 21 Oct 91 - 22 Sep 93Wing CommanderKarunakaran Gopa Kumar13391 F(P)CO | 23 Sep 93 - 25 Jun 95Wing CommanderRavindra Hemchandra Karve13369 F(P)CO | 26 Jun 95 - 15 Jun 97Wing CommanderRavinath Gururaj Burli14667 F(P)CO | |
16 Jun 97 - 27 Sep 99Wing CommanderHarikamal Jeet Singh Sokhey15858 F(P)CO | 27 Sep 99 - 22 Apr 02Wing CommanderSanjay Sharma16227 F(P)CO | | | | |
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