IL-76 is rechristened in India as 'Gajraj'.
Whereas fighter jets such as Sukhois, Jaguars and MiGs are perceived to be the torch-bearers of the Indian Air Force's (IAF's) might, its strategic depth is aided greatly by the Russia-made transport aircraft fleet of Ilyushin, or the IL-76, rechristened in India as 'Gajraj' (elephant king).
Mighty Jets, as the IAF's only IL-76 squadron is called, is one of the air force's oldest transport squadrons and completed its 55th anniversary on March 31. Raised in Chandigarh with the smaller AN-12 aircraft way back in 1961, in order to support the troops based in Jammu and Kashmir, the squadron took active part in the 1962, '65 and '71 wars.
During the 1971 war, the unit, in a rare feat for a transport squadron, carried out successful bombing missions against the enemy and was bestowed 'Battle Honours' for it.
It was in April 1985 that the squadron was re-equipped with IL-76 'Gajraj' aircraft and rechristened 'Mighty Jets' and relocated to Agra, followed by Nagpur in 2003, before finally relocating back to Chandigarh in August 2011.
All these years, it continued to fly in support of the forces in J&K as well the civilian population in far-flung areas.
A T-72 tank or three 6.5ton trucks can be directly driven into the four-engined IL-76 aircraft for an airlift, and a host of heavy and outsized vehicles and equipment can be carried in it over long distances.
Mighty Jets has logged more than one lakh flight hours. Equipped with heavy-lift aircraft, the squadron has a long list of firsts to its credit. These include being the only Indian unit to circumnavigate the world, fly over the North Pole and land in car Nicobar on a damaged runway after the 2004 Tsunami, and having the first woman multi-engine jet pilot of the IAF.
The squadron jets have been instrumental in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief both within and outside the country. This includes during various calamities in Bihar, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar and Uttar Pradesh, and abroad in the US during Hurricane Katrina, Iran, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Yemen, Nepal, Male, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Oman.
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