Squadron Leader Avenash Chandra Mehta (4859) was commissioned as a Navigator in the Flying Branch of the Indian Air Force in April, 1956. He has been serving as Officer incharge Flying at the Aircraft and Armament Testing Unit since October, 1971. With the outbreak of Indo-Pak Conflict, there was a sharp increase in flying commitments at the station, and he was required to set up additional facilities at his base.

He was instrumental in organizing a very effective operations room which was manned by him during "maximum activity hours". He also organised a very effective communication net work for the defence of the airfield. Under his personal supervision and guidance, the Air Delivery Fight was able to carry out a total of 1581 hours of flying, over a period of two months, airlifting 674 tonnes of vital spares and equipment to forward bases. After the conflict, the Air Delivery Flight operations continued, and airlifted a further load of 401 tonnes of vitally needed stores to forward bases. By his constant endeavour and personal example, he main tained perfect coordination between the various sectors under him and kept the morale of his men at a high pitch.

For distinguished service of a high order, Squadron Leader Avenash Chandra Mehta is awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal.

Wing Commander (now Gp Capt) Tilak was posted to an important Air Force Establishment after successfully completing the Masters Degree in Technology from Princeton University, USA. Realising quite early in the career that in a modern Air Force the flying ability must be backed by sound technical knowledge, he completed B. Tech course successfully. He was offered a scholarship by the Princeton University USA for the Master's Degree Course in technology. This two years Master's degree course he completed in 15 months by virtue of his tenacity of purpose and unwavering determination.

Group Captain Raj Kumar Nehra was commissioned in the Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical) Branch of the Indian Air Force on 7 September 1953. During his tenure with the Directorate of Air Staff Requirements, he showed sound technical knowledge extraordinary zeal and extreme capacity for hard work in dealing with the large volume and range of work. Displaying a high sense of initiative and with untiring efforts, he, in a short period of time, acquired a high degree of competence even in the fields other than that of his specialisation.

Group Captain Nehra was called upon to carry out analytical studies of design/project reports of a number of development projects relating to aircraft/ systems designs. Owing to his recognised merit in the field of aircraft flight testing, the officer has been repeatedly selected for evaluation of aircraft/systems considered for induction in the IAF.

Group Captain Raj Kumar Nehra during his stay in the Directorate of Air Staff Requirements has throughout displayed outstanding professional competence, capacity for hard work and devotion to duty. The officer has thus rendered distinguished service of a high order and the President is pleased to award him Vishisht Seva Medal.

Wing Commander Svinder Mohan Singh Chadha was commissioned in the IAF in June 1962. A highly qualified and brilliant engineering officer of the erstwhile armament branch, he has successfully held many sensitive field appointments, which include as many as six tenures as Engineering Officer, Senior Technical Officer and Chief Engineering Officer of various supersonic Squadrons and Wings.

Since Jan 78 he has been employed as Weapon Test Engineer at Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment. Wg Cdr Chadha has been the brain and driving force behind all weapon systems development and evaluation trials undertaken by ASTE during his tenure. A highly capable, yet modest officer who has made a maor contribution in enhancing the operational potential of the IAF through extremely conscientious and dedicated hard work of exemplary proportion.

For his exceptional professional ability and exemplary devotion to duty resulting in successful completion of many weapon systems development project of great importance to the Indian Air Force, the President is pleased to award VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL to Wing Commander Svinder Mohan Singh Chadha.

Squadron Leader Prakash Chandra Khandubhai Desai was commissioned in the Air Force on 3 Jan 66. He was awarded Gold Medal for standing first in the Engineering (Industrial Engineering) Examination NITIE, Bombay in July 76 and earned the FCIL being the best student in the 'Electronic Data Project System' course at MCTE, MHOW in Jun-Aug 77. He graduated from Defence Services Staff College in Nov 80.

Squadron Leader Desai was specially selected as Weapon Test Engineer and Officerin charge Test Laboratory of Aircraft and System Testing Establishment where he displayed outstanding capability at handling challenging tasks assigned to him.

As project engineer for flight trials of a Missile System, Squadron Leader Desai handled various disciplines of the Project single handed and was responsible for formulating fabrication drawing providing design support for various equipments. The task was completed in a record time of three months.

The post firing film data analysis work under taken by the officer and the efforts put in by him evolve new procedures and techniques were appreciated by the concerned manufacturers.

For his exceptional devotion to duty and profile competence of a high order, the President is please to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Squadron Leader Prakash Chandra Khandubhai Desai.

Squadron Leader Vaduvur Srinivasarghavan was commissioned in the Air Force on 04 Jan 71. He has held various important appointments during his service career.

Seeing his past excellent performance, Sqn Ldr Sunder was specially selected as a part of Project Team which was assigned the task of carrying out an important modification to enhance the operational capability of a frontline combat aircraft. Sqn Ldr Sunder being the only specialist for the Mechanical and Structural side played an important role in developing and implementing the modification scheme on the aircraft. His sound professional knowledge, intelligent and dedicated hard work led to the successful completion of the modification which significantly enhanced the operational capability of the Air Force and led to saving of foreign exchange of crores of rupees.

In accomplishing the above tasks Sqn Ldr Sunder has displayed commendable enthusiasm, perseverance, anticipation, analytical power, organizing capability and professional competence of a very high order. For his dedication hard work and significant contribution in carrying out modification on the aircraft, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Sqn Ldr Vaduvur Srinivasaraghavan Sunder.

Sqn Ldr Biswas Bihari Misra has been on the posted strength of ASTE, Air Force with effect from May 1989.

During his stay at ASTE, Sqn Ldr Misra has been actively involved in the retrieval and rehabilitation of a very sophisticated piece of computerised equipment called Electro-Optical Tracking and Computing system (EOTAC). This vital equipment is required for trajectory analysis of aircraft and weapons. Restoring the EOTAC to a usable state was a multi-disciplinary task and lack of manufacturer's support had made it more difficult. He undertook the task with perseverance and determination and found indigenous alternatives to rectify the snags.

Sqn Ldr Misra, by his hard work and dedication, far beyond the call of his normal duties, in an intricate technical field far removed from his normal duties of flying, has managed to make the EOTAC equipment serviceable. He has thus, saved several crores of rupees in foreign exchange.

For his devotion to duty, thorough technical knowledge, intelligent application, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Sqn Ldr Biswas Bihari Misra.

Sqn Ldr Sudhakar Chandrakant Kunte was commissioned on 05 Jan 76. He is on the posted strength of ASTE since 01 Feb 89.

With commendable technical skill, devotion to work and exemplary perseverance, he developed a computerised data acquisition system based on indigenously available PCs and Video Cassette Recorders. His highly advanced technique won praise not only from our R&D organisations, but also from the US Air Force Test Pilot School team that visited the Establishment.

Sqn Ldr Kunte devised a scheme to record the flight test data directly on PC thus reducing flight test time as well as data retrieval time. He further enhanced the scheme by utilising two PCs to simultaneously record the data as well as to give onboard real time display for test manoeuvre monitoring in the aircraft. These schemes were very successfully implemented during the 'AEW-TDP' and 'AN-32 Re-engineing' trials.

For distinguished service of high order, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Sqn Ldr SC Kunte.

Group Captain CN Ranganath (13471) AE (L) has, been on the posted strength of ASTE since July 1993. He has been functioning as Chief Research and Project Officer (CRPO) since November 1996. Group Captain CN Ranganath, by extensive liaison with a number of design agencies, evolved new and fool proof procedural and testing methods for expeditious clearance of trial mods.

During the year 1997, ASTE celebrated its Silver Jubilee. Throughout the year a large number of functions and events were organised. Group Captain Ranganath was the Chief Coordinator for all these functions/ events. Skillful interaction between various civil agencies and providing a disciplined leadership to different organising committee members enabled Group Captain Ranganath in successfully organizing diverse events. It was a feather in the cap of this establishment that such events were conducted with enthusiasm and finesse.

The most prestigious event of the Silver Jubilee celebration was the National Seminar on Flight Testing organised by ASTE. Flight Test experts from the USA, UK, Europe, Russia and Israel participated along with Research and Development Scientists. The Chief Guest was the CAS and the seminar was presided over by Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. To conduct a seminar of this scope, particularly in an Air Force establishment called for original, meticulous planning and dedicated hard work. The fact that it was an outstanding success, was a tribute to the organisational skills of Group Captain Ranganath. The seminar was immensely successful in projecting the high standard of professionalism of the IAF in general and ASTE in particular amongst the aviation fraternity from both India and abroad.

For his significant contribution in organising the seminar on Flight Testing and for continued distinguished service of a high order, the Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Group Captain CN Ranganath.

Wing Commander Venkata Ramana Mantha (17284) AE (M) was commissioned on 01 Sep 83 in the Engineering Branch of the IAF. He has served in three MiG-21 squadrons, twice as Senior Technical Officer. While serving at Air Force Station Bhuj, he was commended by AOC-in-C South Western Air Command (SWAC) for service of a high order. He is a Master of Technology in Material Science. He was trained as a Flight Test Engineer (FTE) at the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in 93-94 and has since been an FTE at ASTE. He has been involved in flight testing in an extremely wide range of aircraft and systems; he specialises in Electrooptics. He was responsible for flight-testing that resulted in the induction of laser-guided bombs (LGBs) and their air borne laser designation systems into the IAF. He was also responsible for integration of laser designator systems into the IAF. He was also responsible for the integration of laser designator and navigation pod on the Mirage 2000 and Jaguar aircraft.

During the Kargil conflict, a crisis loomed large due to the non-availability of suitable fuses for LGBs. Happening to be at the concerned base, Wg Cdr Mantha used his innovativeness to modify and adapt a fusing scheme to make the LGBs functional. The LGBs were used with telling effect on enemy bunkers. But for Wg Cdr Mantha's initiative, the LGBs could not have been used. At present, Wg Cdr Mantha is the principal FTE in a programme to integrate a sophisticated helmet mounted display and updating device with a state of the art air-to-air missile on the Mirage2000. The programme involves aerodynamics, structures, Electro-optics, avionics, ergonomics, fighter tactics and pilot safety. He has been coordinating this complex project in a highly professional manner.

For distinguished service of a high order, the Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Wing Commander Venkata Ramana Mantha.