Sirsa Air Force Station or Sirsa AFS (ICAO: VISX) is an Indian Air Force base under Western Air Command, located at Sirsa in the state of Haryana, India.[2]
Sirsa Air Force Station  Sirsa Vayu Sena Chhawni | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Indian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Operator | Western Air Command | ||||||||||
| Location | Sirsa, Haryana | ||||||||||
| Occupants | No. 21 Squadron IAF No. 15 Squadron IAF | ||||||||||
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 198 m / 650 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 29°33′42″N 75°00′21″E / 29.56167°N 75.00583°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  VISX Location of the airport in Haryana  VISX VISX (India) | |||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||
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History
edit1971 Indo-Pak war
editIn Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Pakistan Air Force launched a pre-emptive raid on 12 airforce stations,[3] including Sirsa station, Faridkot Stations, Halwara Air Force Station, a few railway stations, Indian armour concentrations and other targets. However, this failed to cause any significant damage except pothole damage to the runway which was quickly repaired.[4] Dassault Mystère IV jets from Sirsa base pounded the Pakistan Army pitched against the Indian Army in the Battle of Sabuna Drain. Dassault Mystère also hit a train and destroyed 50 tanks on it between Okara and Sahiwal.
Units
editIt has No. 21 Squadron IAF of 45 Wing. Wing is an active air force combat formation. No. 15 Squadron IAF operating Su-30MKI is also based here.[5][6]
Originally the base was home to a squadron each of MiG-23s single-engine fighters and MiG-27s single-engine ground-attack aircraft, of No. 21 Squadron IAF.[7]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ a b World Airport Codes.
- ^ "Air Force Day Fly Past an Appeal". PIB, Ministry of Defence. 26 September 2006.
- ^ Om Prakash Maurya, 2017, Babu Jagjivan Ram.
- ^ A.S. Ahluwalia, 2012, [ Airborne to Chairborne: Memoirs of a War Veteran Aviator-Lawyer of the India Air Force].
- ^ "Indian Air Force to raise four more squadrons of Su-30 MKI fighter". 5 October 2012.
- ^ "IAF's top guns brave extreme Alaska". 11 May 2016.
- ^ No. 3 Squadron, Indian Air Force Bharat Rakshak
External links
edit- Video of the Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team (SKAT) during the Air Show at Sirsa Air Force Station.