Details : | Group Captain Shardul Dayanand Patil (21116) was commissioned in the Indian Air Force as an engineer in the Aeronautical Engineering (Electronics) branch. He is on the posted strength of Air Force Station Ojhar from 01 Oct 2013. He is presently working as the Team Leader of MiG-29 Upgrade Project Cell (UPC). The officer has been working as Flight Test Engineer for the prestigious MiG-29 Upgrade Programme and has been part of the MiG-29 Project Management Team at Russia. Due to his knowledge and flight testing skill, the officer was detailed to steer this programme since its inception. Due to his continuous evaluation and perseverance, Russians were forced to implement the aircraft logic and interfaces that were beneficial for operations of the Indian Air Force. He was also instrumental in redefining the logic related to system like Radar, Identification Friend Foe, Counter Measure Dispensing System, Group Actions, etc. His involvement in the project has helped Indian Air Force to extract operational potential much beyond the contracted capability with improved user satisfaction. After transfer of six Design and Development (0&0) aircraft from Russia to India, the officer was repatriated and assumed his present post. As team leader MiG-29 UPC, he took the full ownership of programme and single handedly completed pending flight test programme on MiG-29 Upgrade aircraft along with RAC 'MiG' in a manner that helped in achieving full capability of the upgraded aircraft in a short span of time. He kept track of complete programme and guided the operational and maintenance crew for fruitful utilization of the upgrade aircraft. His dedication, involvement and wholehearted participation has helped Indian Air Force to achieve its vision of MiG- 29 Upgrade aircraft. The officer has a major contribution in success of MiG-29 Upgrade programme. For his dedication towards the MiG-29 Upgrade programme and distinguished service of high order, Hon'ble President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Group Captain Shardul Dayanand Patil. |