No.29 Squadron Scorpions

Motto : Sadaiv Sachet (Ever Alert)
Date Raised : 1958-03-10 Disbanded : 2020-03-31
29 Squadron AF was raised at Halwara on 10 Mar 58 equipped with the Toofani. Over 60 years, the Squadron has operated from Kalaikunda, Tezpur, Hindon, and Jamnagar flying the Toofanis, MiG-21 FL, MIG-21 M and MiG-27 ML aircraft. In 1967 it was re-equipped with the Mig-21 FL . Sqn moved to Jodhpur on 23 April 73, redeployed to jamnagar in May 75, moved to Jodhpur in 1997. In May 2007, the Squadron was re-equipped with state-of-the-art MiG-27 UPG aircraft and is currently located at Jodhpur. During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the Units achieved 04 air to air kills and carried out reconnaissance missions deep inside enemy territory providing valuable and vital intelligence. For its achievements, the Sqn was awarded the coveted Battle Honours for Air Defence by the President of India. The Units was awarded the Units citation for its glorious service to the nation on 08 Oct 12. The emblem of the Squadron depicts a black Scorpion. The Scorpion with its offensive posture and deadly sting coiled up symbolizes the qualities of lethality, aggression, strength and courage that are characteristics of every member of the Scorpio clan. The Sqn motto "Sadaiva Sachet" meaning "Ever Alert" aptly describes the vigilant role played by this fighting Units.

Aircraft Types operated over the years:

Commanding Officers

View in Grid

DatesRank & NameNumberRemarksLocationPhoto
10 Mar 58 to 04 Jan 61Squadron Leader Sukhjinder Singh3245 GD(P)COHalwara/ KKD
05 Jan 61 to 08 Oct 62Squadron Leader Verghese Kuriyan3118 GD(P)COKKD/ Tezpur
09 Oct 62 to 09 Apr 65Squadron Leader Edward Eugene Desouza3960 GD(P)COTezpur/ Bagdogra
10 May 65 to 21 Apr 66Squadron Leader Ravinder Lal Badhwar4341 GD(P)COBagdogra
22 May 66 to 10 May 67Squadron Leader Edwin Godfrey Salins4796 GD(P)COBagdogra
11 May 67 to 07 Jun 70Wing Commander Melville Andrew Woodfall4021 GD(P)COAdampur/ Hindon
08 Jun 70 to 04 Apr 72Wing Commander Vishwanath Balakrishna Sawardekar4593 GD(P)COHindon
28 Apr 72 to 29 Jun 74Wing Commander Prabhat Kumar Varma4822 GD(P)COHindon
30 Jun 74 to 28 Oct 76Wing Commander Pondicherry Jayarao Jayakumar5037 GD(P)COJodhpur/ Jamnagar
29 Oct 76 to 06 Mar 79Wing Commander Sharadkumar Ramakrishna Deshpande5694 GD(P)COJamnagar
07 May 79 to 14 Jun 81Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Brar6007 GD(P)COJamnagar
15 Jun 81 to 21 Jun 83Wing Commander Sunil Kumar Gulati6753 GD(P)COJamnagar
22 Jun 83 to 26 Jun 85Wing Commander Manek Bomanshaw Madon7681 GD(P)COJamnagar
27 Jun 85 to 24 Jun 87Wing Commander Jaspal Singh Gujral11300 GD(P)COJamnagar
25 Jun 87 to 11 Jun 89Wing Commander Pranab Kumar Barbora12375 GD(P)COJamnagar
12 Jun 89 to 12 May 91Wing Commander Rajiv Kumar Lakhwara12418 GD(P)COJamnagar
13 May 91 to 22 Aug 93Wing Commander Ashok Shivsangappa Umbarje12760 GD(P)COJamnagar
23 Aug 93 to 25 Jun 95Wing Commander Madhusudhan Banerjee13400 F(P)COJamnagar
26 Jun 95 to 05 Aug 97Wing Commander Satnam Singh14676 F(P)COJamnagar
06 Aug 97 to 20 Jun 99Wing Commander Subhash Shankar Rao Patil15032 F(P)COJodhpur
21 Jun 99 to 21 Oct 01Wing Commander Murugesa Pillai Ramesh16057 F(P)COJodhpur
22 Oct 01 to 26 Jan 03Wing Commander Vinod Shankar16386 F(P)COJodhpur
27 Jan 03 to 21 Mar 05Wing Commander Rajendra Nalsingrao Gaekwad17845 F(P)COJodhpur
22 Mar 05 to 15 Apr 07Wing Commander Sunil Kashinath Vidhate18825 F(P)COJodhpur
16 Apr 07 to 15 Feb 09Wing Commander Rajat Mohan20476 F(P)COJodhpur

Note: All the data available here is publicly available in the Gazette of India, published by the Indian Government, or from public domain sources, press releases about Awards and Right-To-Information (RTI) Requests. Additionally data shared by veterans is added to the page with permission. No data with respect to serving officers below the rank of AVM is displayed. Information in Gazette of India and Award citations and photographs as released by the Indian Air Force are the only details displayed.