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List of aerial victories during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971

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The Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan and West Pakistan from 3 December 1971 to the Fall of Dacca (Dhaka) on 16 December 1971. The war saw intense use of aerial assets by both sides and proved to be instrumental in the Indian victory in East Pakistan (Bangladesh).

Mig21 pair during 1971 war
Mig21 pair during 1971 war
Lockheed F-104A Starfighter
Lockheed F-104A Starfighter

The following lists contains aerial victories credited to both Indian as well as Pakistani pilots.

Eastern sector (Bangladesh)

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Probable or Unconfirmed kills are in italics text

Pilot Country Date Fighter Type Victim Pilot Victim Aircraft Remarks
Flt Lt later Squadron Leader Mandepanda Appachu Ganapathy M. A. Ganapathy No. 22 Squadron IAF India 22 Nov Battle of Boyra Folland Gnat Fg Offr Khail Ahmad No. 14 Squadron PAF Canadair Sabre Mk6 Fg Offr Ahmad POW, Ganapathy awarded Vir Chakra[1]
Fg Offr later Grp Cdr Donald Lazarus No. 22 Squadron IAF India 22 Nov Folland Gnat Flt. Lt. Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi No. 14 Squadron PAF Canadair Sabre Mk6 Flt Lt Qureshi taken POW, Lazarus awarded Vir Chakra

[2]

Flt Lt later Wng Cdr Roy Andrew MasseyNo. 22 Squadron IAF India 22 Nov Folland Gnat Wg Cdr Afzal Chaudhry. No. 14 Squadron PAF Canadair Sabre Mk6 Chaudhary awarded Sitara-e-Jurat, his Sabre was severely damaged, but PAF claims that he returned to base, however Massey's wingman saw Chaudhary bail out. Massey awarded Vir Chakra[3]
Wg Cdr later Air Cdr Narinder Chatrath No. 17 Squadron IAF Golden Arrows India 4th Dec Hawker Hunter Wg Cdr Muhammed Ahmed No. 14 Squadron PAF Canadair Sabre Mk6 Ahmed posthumously awarded Sitara-i-Juraat ([4][5]
Flt Lt Jayendra Sukrut RajNo. 4 Squadron IAF Oorials India 4th Dec MiG-21 Unidentified Pilot No. 14 Squadron PAF Tail Choppers Canadair Sabre Mk6 The last unaccountable F86 was probably shot down by Sukurut Raj
Flt Lt later Wng cdr Vinod Kumar NebNo. 17 Squadron IAF Golden Arrows India 4th Dec Hawker Hunter Flt Lt Saeed Afzal Khan No. 14 Squadron PAF Tail Choppers Canadair Sabre Mk6 [6]
Fg Offr later Air Marshal Harish Masand No. 37 Squadron IAF Black Panthers India 4th Dec Hawker Hunter Flt Lt Saeed Afzal No. 14 Squadron PAF Tail Choppers Canadair Sabre Mk6 Flt Lt Saeed Afzal bailed out KIA[5] Masand awarded Vir Chakra[7][8]
Wg Cdr Ramaswamy Sundaresan No. 14 Squadron IAF The Bulls India 4th Dec Hawker Hunter Fg Offr Sahibzada Sajjad Noor No. 14 Squadron PAF Tail Choppers Canadair Sabre Mk6 Sundersan awarded Vir Chakra[8]
Sqn Ldr later Air Marshal Dilwar Hussain Pakistan No. 14 Squadron PAF Tail Choppers 4th Dec Canadair Sabre Mk6 Flt Lt later Grp Capt Kenneth Charles Tremenheere No. 14 Squadron IAF Hawker Hunter Tremenhere taken POW [9][8]
Flt Lt Saeed Afzal Khan No. 14 Squadron PAF Tail choppers Pakistan 4th Dec Canadair Sabre Mk6 Sqn Ldr Kanwal Deep Mehra No. 14 Squadron IAF Hawker Hunter Khan awarded Sitara-i-Juraat bailed out but MIA, mehra bailed out.

Western sector

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Probable Kills or Unconfirmed kills are in italics text;

Pilot Country Date Fighter Type Victim Pilot Victim Aircraft Remarks
Flt Lt Javed Latif No. 23 Squadron PAF Pakistan 4th Dec Shenyang F6C Flt Lt Harvinder Singh No. 222 Squadron IAF Sukhoi Su7 Singh KIA[10][5] Latif awarded Tamgha-e-Jurat
Fg Off later Air Marshal Qazi Javed No. 25 Squadron PAF Pakistan PAF Base Murid 4th Dec Shenyang F6C Fg Off later Wing Commander Vidyadhar Shankarrao ChatiNo. 27 Squadron IAF Hawker Hunter Chati taken POW[11][12]
Fg Off Salim Beg Mirza No. 26 Squadron PAF Pakistan 4th Dec F-86F Flt Lt Kotteiezath Puthiyavettil Muralidharan No. 20 Squadron IAF Hawker Hunter Murlidharan KIA[13][14]
Flt Lt Mujahid Salik No. 15 Squadron PAF Pakistan 4th Dec F-86F Fg Off Sudhir Tyagi No. 27 Squadron IAF Hawker Hunter Tyagi posthumously awarded Vir Chakra[15][16]
Fg Off later Grp Capt Naeem Atta No. 5 Squadron PAF Pakistan 4th Dec Dassault Mirage III Flt Lt L Moses Sasoon;

Flt Lt Ram Metharam Advani JBCU IAF

English Electric Canberra Sasoon and Advani KIA[17]
Wng Cdr later Air Vice Marshal Cecil Vivian Parker No. 20 Squadron IAF "Lightnings" India 4th Dec Hawker Hunter Unidentified Pilot F-86E
Wng Cdr later Air Vice Marshal Cecil Vivian Parker No. 20 Squadron IAF "Lightnings" India 4th Dec Hawker Hunter Flt Lt Nayyar Iqbal F-86E Iqbal KIA. According to Pakistani accounts and sources, the aircraft suffered an accidental flameout[18] Parker awarded Maha Vir Chakra
Fg Off Sudhir Tyagi No. 27 Squadron IAF India 4th Dec PAF Base Murid Hawker Hunter Unidentified Pilot F-86E/Mirage III Tyagi awarded Vir Chakra[19]
Flt Lt later Sqd Ldr Charan Singh Dhillon No. 108 Squadron IAF Hawkeyes India 4th Dec Hawker Hunter Unidentified Pilot F86E Dhillon awarded Vayu Sena Medal[20]
Wg Cdr later Air Marshal Johnny GreeneNo. 2 Squadron IAF Flying Arrow India 4th Dec Folland Gnat F.1 Unidentified Pilot Dassault Mirage III/Lockheed F-104 Starfighter Intercepted and photographed while chasing a F-104 Starfighter over Ferozepur and prevented it from damaging the radar installations[21][22]
Sqn Ldr later Air Commodore Krishen Kumar Bakshi No. 220 Squadron IAF India 05 Dec Naya Chor, Sindh and Dhoran, Kumbhalgarh, area. HAL HF24 Mk1 Unidentified Pilot F-86E Bakshi awarded Vir Chakra, aviation historians claim the unidentified Pakistani pilot was Fg Off Hamid Khawaja[23][24]
Fg Off Safdar Pakistan 05 Dec Sakesar Dassault Mirage III Sqn Ldr Jal Maniksha Mistry Hawker Hunter 56A Mistry posthumously awarded Vir Chakra[25][26]
Flt Lt Shahid Raza No. 25 Squadron PAF Pakistan 05 Dec Sakesar Shenyang F6C Fg Off Kishan Lakhimal Malkani No. 27 Squadron IAF Hawker Hunter Malkani posthumously awarded Vir Chakra[27][28]
Wng Cdre later Air Cdre Saad A Hatmi No. 25 Squadron PAF Pakistan 05 Dec Sakesar Shenyang F6C Flt Lt later Squadron Leader Gurmit Singh Rai No. 27 Squadron IAF Hawker Hunter Rai bailed out[29]
Unidentified Pilot Pakistan 05 Dec F-86 Unidentified Pilot(s) Alloutte III Alloutte pilots safely bailed out
Flight Lieutenant later Air Vice Marshal Salimuddin No. 5 Squadron PAF Pakistan 06 Dec Jammu Sector Dassault Mirage III Flt Lt Vijay Kumar Wahi Sukhoi Su-7 [30] Wahi posthumously awarded Vir Chakra[31]
Unidentified Pilot India 07 Dec Hawker Hunter Fg Off Hamid Khawaja F-86E Pilot crashed while chasing Hunter, acc. to the PAF.
Flt Lt Cecil Choudhary Pakistan 07 Dec F-86 Fg Off later Air Marshal Adhi Rustamji Ghandhi No. 8 Squadron IAF Sukhoi Su-7 [14]
Fg Off Atiq Sufi No. 11 Squadron PAF Pakistan 07 Dec Samba Shenyang F6C Sqn Ldr Jiwa Singh Sukhoi Su-7 Singh KIA
Wg Cdr M H Hashmi No. 23 Squadron PAF Pakistan 08 Dec PAF Risalewala. F-86E Flt Lt Ramesh Gulabrao Kadam TACDE Sukhoi Su-7 BMK Kadam KIA[32]
Flt Lt Ramesh Gulabrao Kadam TACDE India 08 Dec PAF Risalewala Sukhoi Su-7 BMK Flt Lt A J Siddiqui Shenyang F6C F/L A J Siddqui is claimed by the PAF to have been shot while chasing Kadam's formation. The pilots of both sides were KIA.[5]
Unidentified pilot India 09

Dec

MiG-21FL Unidentified Pilot Dassault Mirage III EP 2 K-13 AAMs were launched and a proximity hit recorded. Target disappeared from radar. Listed as 'Probable'
Sqn Ldr later Air Marshal Ravinder Nath Bhardwaj No. 20 Squadron IAF Lightning India 10 Dec Hawker Hunter Sqn Ldr Aslam Chaudhry / KIA F-86E Chaudhry posthumously awarded Sitara-i-Jurat[33] Bhardwaj awarded Maha Vir Chakra
Wg Cdr Arif Iqbal No. 9 Squadron PAF Pakistan 10 Dec F-104A Lt Cdr Ashok Roy (Pt)

Lt H S Sirohi (Obs) Acmn O Vijayan (TG)

Bréguet Br.1050 Alizé Roy, Sirohi and Vijayan KIA [34]
Wg Cdr Bhukhari Pakistan 11 Dec Shakargarh F-86 Flt Lt Krishna Kumar Mohan No. 26 Squadron IAF Sukhoi Su-7 Mohan KIA[35][36]
Flt. Lt. later Wng Cdr Bharat Bhushan Soni India 12th Dec Jamnagar MiG-21 Wg Cdr Mervyn L Middlecoat[5] Lockheed F-104A Starfighter Flt Lt Soni awarded Vir Chakra[37] had spotted Middlecoat bail out and had rushed a rescue team from the nearest IAF station.[5] However the rescue team found no trace of Middlecoat. He had ejected over shark infested waters, it was highly unlikely that he survived.[38][39][40] Middlecoat posthumously awarded Sitara-e-Jurat[41]
Sqn Ldr later Air Vice Marshal Viney Kapila India 12th Dec MiG-21FL Unidentified Pilot F-104A/F-86E F-104A mentioned in official records, Kapila awarded Vir Chakra
Flt Lt Surinder Singh Malhotra India 12

Dec

Sukhoi Su-7 BMK Flt Lt Ejazuddin Shenyang F6C Although initially PAF did not credit the kill but later accepted the loss of one F-6 over the general area of dogfight[42][39] Malhotra awarded Vir Chakra
Sqn Ldr later Wng Cdr Farokh Jehangir Mehta India 13th Dec Hawker Hunter Fg Off Nasim Nisar Ali Baig F-86 Beg awarded Tamgha-i-Jurat[5][42][43] Mehta awrded Vir Chakra
Flt Lt later Wing Commander Kukke Sreekantasastry Suresh India 13th Dec Hawker Hunter Unidentified Pilot F-86 Suresh awarded Vir Chakra[44]
1. Wng Cdr later Air Marshal Sharbat Ali Changezi, Leader

2. Flt Lt Dotani, wingman 3. Flt Lt Amjad Endrabi, wingman 4. Flt Lt Maroof Mir, wingman 5. Flt Lt later Wng Cdr Salim Baig Mirza, top cover (Claimed Kill) 6. A. Rahim Yousefzai, top cover No. 26 Squadron PAF Black Spiders

Pakistan 14 Dec Srinagar F-86 Fg Off Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon No. 18 Squadron IAF Flying Bullets Folland Gnat Sekhon awarded Param Vir Chakra posthumously in 6:1 fight[45][46] Mirza awarded Sitara-e-Jurat
Sqn Ldr S Gauhar Pakistan 14 Dec F-86 Capt P K Gaur HAL Krishak Observation Aircraft belonging to Indian Army[47]
Wg Cdr M N Singh

Sqn Ldr F J Mehta

(Shared)

India 15 Dec Hawker Hunter T.66

(Two-seater)

Unidentified Pilot F-86 Maneuver kill. Target flew into the ground.[6]
Flt Lt Samar Bikram Shah India 16 Dec Mig-21FL Unidentified Pilot Shenyang F6C F-6 Wreckage found by Indian Army [48]
Flt Lt later Grp Capt Virendera Singh Pathania No. 18 Squadron IAF Flying Bullets India 16 Dec Folland Gnat Unidentified Pilot North American F-86 Sabre Unconfirmed Kill[49]
Flt Lt later Wng Cdr Maqsood Amir Pakistan 17 Dec F-86 Flt Lt Tejwant Singh No. 45 Squadron IAF Mig-21 Singh bailed out became POW [50] Amir awarded Tamgha-i-Jurat[51]
Flt Lt Niraj Kukreja No. 29 Squadron IAF India 17 Dec MiG-21FL Flt Lt Samad Ali Changezi No. 9 Squadron PAF F-104A [5][42] Changezi posthumously awarded Sitara-e-Jurat, Kukeraja awarded Vir Chakra[52]
Unidentified Pilot India 17 Dec Hawker Hunter Unidentified Pilot(s) 2x Cessna 0-1 Confirmed by PAF chronicler, John Fricker's, records[53]

List of aircraft mentioned

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India

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Aircraft Country of Origin
Aérospatiale Alouette III   France
Bréguet 1050 Alizé   France
English Electric Canberra   United Kingdom
Folland Gnat   United Kingdom
Hawker Hunter   United Kingdom
HAL HF-24 Marut   India
HAL Krishak   India
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21FL   Soviet Union
Sukhoi Su-7BMK   Soviet Union

Pakistan

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Aircraft Country of Origin
Canadair Sabre   Canada
Cessna O-1 Bird Dog   USA
Dassault Mirage III   France
Lockheed F-104A Starfighter   USA
North American F-86 Sabre   USA
Shenyang F6   China

See also

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References

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Sources

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Citations

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  1. ^ "Service Record for Group Captain Donald Lazarus 10516 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  2. ^ "Service Record for Group Captain Donald Lazarus 10516 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  3. ^ "Service Record for Wing Commander Roy Andrew Massey at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  4. ^ "Service Record for Air Commodore Narinder Chatrath 3959 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Heroes". Pakistan Air Force Museum. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  6. ^ a b "Indian Combat Pilots". jaganpvs.tripod.com. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  7. ^ "Service Record for Air Marshal Harish Masand 11272 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  8. ^ a b c Jagan, PVS (2013). Eagles Over Bangladesh. HarperCollinsIN. pp. 147–149. ISBN 978-93-5136-163-3.
  9. ^ "Service Record for Group Captain Kenneth Charles Tremenheere 10482 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  10. ^ "Service Record for Flight Lieutenant Harvinder Singh 9441 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  11. ^ Pillarisetti, Jagan. "Indian Air Losses of the 1971 War (Unofficial List)". www.bharat-rakshak.com. Archived from the original on 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  12. ^ "Service Record for Wing Commander Vidyadhar Shankarrao Chati 10504 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  13. ^ "Service Record for Flying Officer Kotteiezath Puthiyavettil Muralidharan 10575 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  14. ^ a b "Pakistani Combat Pilots". jaganpvs.tripod.com. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  15. ^ "Service Record for Flying Officer Sudhir Tyagi 10871 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  16. ^ "Flying Officer Sudhir Tyagi VrC | Honourpoint". Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  17. ^ "Indian Air Force Aircraft Data [www.bharat-rakshak.com]". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  18. ^ "No. 17 Squadron (Archived)". PakDef.info. 26 December 2008. Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Flying officer Sudhir Tyagi". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  20. ^ "Squadron Leader Charan Singh Dhillon". Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  21. ^ Harry, B. "IAF COMBAT KILLS - 1971 INDO-PAK AIR WAR" (PDF).
  22. ^ "Air Marshal Johnny Greene (1929-2013)". Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  23. ^ "Service Record for Air Commodore Krishen Kumar Bakshi 5012 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  24. ^ "Indian Aviation: HAL HF-24 Marut, the first Indian Jet Fighter". Team-BHP.com. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  25. ^ "Indian Air Losses of the 1971 War (Unofficial List)". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  26. ^ "Squadron Leader Jal Maniksha Mistry". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  27. ^ "Indian Air Losses of the 1971 War (Unofficial List)". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  28. ^ "Flying Officer Kishan Lakhimal Malkani". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  29. ^ "Squadron Leader Gurmit Singh Rai". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Pakistan Air Force Mirages during the 1971 Air War". Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Flight Lieutenant Vijay Kumar Wahi". Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  32. ^ "Flight Lieutenant Ramesh Gulabrao Kadam". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  33. ^ "Missing in Action". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  34. ^ "Indian Air Losses of the 1971 War (Unofficial List)". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  35. ^ "Flight Lieutenant Krishna Kumar Mohan". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  36. ^ "Indian Air Losses of the 1971 War (Unofficial List)". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  37. ^ "Wng Cdr Bharat Bhushan Soni". Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  38. ^ "Vir Chakra (VrC), Awardee: Flt Lt Surinder Singh Malhotra, VrC @ TWDI". twdi.in. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  39. ^ a b Chattopadhyay, R. "Sukhoi-7 BMK - A whale of a fighter". www.bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  40. ^ "Wing Commander Mervyn L Middlecoat Shaheed | Lawrence College Ghora Gali". Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  41. ^ "Heroes". Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  42. ^ a b c Pillarisetti, Jagan. "Pakistani Air Losses of the 1971 War (Official List)". www.bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  43. ^ "CITATION OF PAF SHAHEEDS - 4". www.defencejournal.com. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  44. ^ "Wing Commander Kukke Sreekantasastry Suresh". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  45. ^ Param Vir Chakra (PVC) Awardee: Fg Offr Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, PVC, The War Decorated India & Trust, retrieved 1 September 2014
  46. ^ "Air Battles – December 1971 – My experiences". Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  47. ^ "Captain Pradip Kumar Gour MVC | Honourpoint". Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  48. ^ Shah awarded Vir Chakra"Flight Lieutenant Samar Bikram Shah". Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  49. ^ Greene, David. "Last dogfight over Srinagar 16 December 1971 No 18 Sqn 50yearsGnat". Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  50. ^ "THE PROUD HISTORY OF PAKISTAN AIR FORCE AGAINST INDIAN AIR FORCE". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  51. ^ "It is the man behind the gun". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  52. ^ "Air Warriors". Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  53. ^ "Two PAA artillery -spotting and reconnaissance Cessna O -1s were blasted out of the sky during the 1971 war by the 30mm ADEN cannon of marauding Indian Hawker Hunters over the battlefield", John Fricker, Pakistan's Army Aviation, AIR INTERNATIONAL
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