Squadron Service - Indian Air Force
Indian Jaguar squadrons
| 5 Sqd Tuskers | Ambala |
| 6 Sqd Dragons | Jamnagar (Jaguar M) |
| 14 Sqd Bulls | Ambala |
| 16 Sqd Rattlers | Gorakhpur |
| 27 Sqd Flaming Arrows | Gorakhpur |
In the early 1970s the Indian government saw a need to replace the Indian Air Force's ageing Canberra and Hunter fleets, and initiated the Deep Penetration Strike Aircraft competition in 1978. The IAF needed an aircraft that could penetrate at low level and strike targets 300 miles inside hostile territory. In addition the chosen type had to be available quickly and to be built in India. The list of contenders was reduced to three: Jaguar, SAAB Viggen and Dassault Mirage F.1. On October 6th 1978 the decision that the Jaguar had been selected was announced.
On October 21st an Intention To Proceed was signed by Sir Freddie Page for SEPECAT (really BAC) and S.S. Banerji, the Indian Defence Secretary. The ITP document covered an order for 160 aircraft. Of these, eighteen would be loaned to the IAF from RAF stocks, forty (35 single-seaters and 5 two-seaters) would be build by BAC at Warton, and the Indians would build a further 120 under licence.
The first four IAF officers chosen to fly the Jaguar arrived at No 226 OCU at Lossiemouth on February 26th 1979. After 45 hours on the type, they were attached to No 54 squadron at Coltishall for a further 20 hours of tactical flying. A further eight pilots went through the course at Lossie.
The first two loaned Jaguars (one single-seater and one two-seater) were handed over to the IAF at a ceremony at Warton on July 19th 1979. These two aircraft flew out to India as a pair, arriving at Ambala on July 27th 1979. A further two arrived on October 14th, and eventually all eighteen aircraft were handed over.
Number 14 squadron ("Bulls") of the IAF, previously a Hunter FGA.56A operator, was declared operational on the Jaguar in September 1980.
On February 10th 1981 the second batch of aircraft, those built at BAC Warton, was handed over. JT051 arrived in India on March 5th 1981, and deliveries continued until the last aircraft, JS135, left the UK on November 6th 1982.
A second Jaguar unit, No 5 Squadron ("Tuskers") became operational in the summer of 1981. When No 14 squadron had equipped with the Warton-built aircraft, the loan aircraft began to be returned to the UK. This process was completed by October 1984.
JI006/XX116, operated by No 14 squadron, crashed on April 16th 1981 (apparently it hit a vulture during low-level tactical training). JI011/XX111 was written off on April 4th 1982. JI001/XX138 was sold to Oman. JI005/XZ398 was used to integrate the Matra Magic AAM and develop DARIN; it was eventually also returned.
Meanwhile a production line was established at HAL's facility at Bangalore. BAE came up with the CKD (Completely Knocked Down) concept, whereby components could be airlifted to India and re-assembled locally. The first such kits were flown out on May 5th 1981, with the 45th and final in March 1987. The first Bangalore-assembled CKD aircraft made its first flight on March 31st 1982. The first all-Indian Jaguar was delivered in January 1988.
The next Indian AF squadron to equip with the Jaguar was No 27 ("Flaming Arrows") in the summer of 1982, followed by No 16 ("Cobras") in October 1986. These two squadrons were based at Gorakhpur. By now the Jaguar was officially known as the "Shamsher", which means "Sword of Justice".
The maritime version of the Jaguar, which is unique to India, incorporated a nose-mounted Thompson-CSF Agave radar that was an option on the Jaguar International. This was used to aquire a target for the single under-fuselage BAe Sea Eagle anti-ship missile.
The first maritime Jaguar flew in 1985 and was handed over to the IAF in January 1986. All eight of the initial batch had been completed by mid-1993. All eight aircraft were converted from the CKD production batch.
The maritime Jaguar equipped 'A' flight of No 6 Squadron ("Dragons"), based at Poona.
A further four aircraft seem to have been built by HAL after 1993.
The maritime Jaguar fleet was upgraded with the IAI Elta EL/M2032 pulse-Doppler radar in 1998-2000.
Indian AF Jaguars have suffered a number of losses over the years. In August 1987 one crashed near Kounour, and another went down on June 6th 1989. On August 1st 1990 two aircraft collided over Deonia. One crashed in Rajasthan on October 17th 1995
An IAF pilot ejected successfully from a HAL-built Jaguar on June 30th 1999, when it went down on a training exercise in the Punjab region.
Further crashes occured at Sidhwapar on November 8th 1999, and at Ambala on May 9th 2002; in the latter the pilot was killed.
On November 5th 2002 an IAF Jaguar crashed into the town of Ambala, killing six people on the ground. The pilot, Flt Lt Rehani, ejected but suffered spinal injuries.
On January 28th 2003 a Jaguar crashed while flying over the Mahrajan firing range in Bikaner district, Rajasthan. The pilot, identified as Mukhopadhya, was killed in the crash.
On May 9th 2003 an IAF Jaguar crashed while attempting to take off from Ambala. The pilot, Flying Officer S. Paliwal, was killed. According to the ExpressIndia report, "The aircraft crashed and caught fire after dashing against the fence in the runway". What this means I have not been able to work out!
In June 2003 the Indian Air Force finalised an avionics systems upgrade package for forty Jaguars. The DARIN II nav/attack system was to replace the ageing NAVWASS kit.
On February 26th 2004 an Indian Air Force Jaguar crashed near Pokhran in the western desert state of Rajasthan, killing pilot Wing Commander Ravi Khanna. Khanna had been practising manoeuvres ahead of air exercises scheduled for March 14th. Preliminary reports pointed to a technical fault causing the crash.
Two IAF Jaguars from Ambala crashed into mountains in the Himalayas on April 2nd 2004. The Jaguars were part of a 4-ship formation conducting low-level training when then encountered bad weather about 30 minutes after takeoff. The aircraft went missing near Gund in Sonmarg Valley, around 40 to 50 km north-east of Srinagar.
A special rescue team reached the wreckage of two Jaguar fighters at a height of 12,000 ft, on the peaks between Sonmarg and Gund, and found the body of Flight Lieutenant Gagan Oberoi. The flight data recorders of both aircraft were also recovered. The body of the second pilot, Flight Lieutenant Mayank Mayur, was found near the wreckage of the second Jaguar. Both the bodies were apparently found in the cockpits of the ill-fated jets, indicating that they did not have time to eject. The two flight data recorders were sent to Ambala for further investigations.
On May 7th 2004 an IAF Jaguar IB crashed on takeoff from Ambala. Both pilots ejected successfully.
Six Indian AF Jaguar IS aircraft from Nos 5, 14, 16 and 27 squadrons made the first deployment of the type outside India on June 23rd 2004, departing for Elmendorf AFB in Alaska to take part in exercise "Cooperative Cope Thunder 2004". The route flown was via Qatar, Egypt, Portugal (Azores), Newfoundland and Edmonton, and took several days. The aircraft were refuelled in mid-air by two Il-78 tankers. The exercise begins on July 15th and the IAF aircraft returned to India on August 6th.
The serials of the Jaguars involved were JS141, JS144, JS150, JS154, JS170 and JS177.
On May 11th 2005 an IAF Jaguar crashed in a village near Gorakhpur AB shortly after taking off. The pilot was killed.
On 7th October 2005 an IAF Jaguar crashed at about 08:30 local time, shortly after taking off from Gwalior AB on a strike mission. The pilot, Sqn Ldr V Gupta, ejected successfully.
In January 2006 the IAF refused to fly two new-build two-seat Jaguars, and refused to accept a further five, after expressing "concerns" at "some problems" in the manufacture of the airframes. The seven aircraft were returned to HAL at Bangalore for repair.
On March 31st 2006 the Indian government announced that a further 20 Jaguars would be acquired for the IAF.
In September 2006 the Indian Air Force issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a long-range anti-ship missile to arm its Jaguars. Boeing's Harpoon and the MBDA Exocet are among the competitors.
On January 18th 2007 Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Flight Lieutenant Sirao died when his Jaguar crashed at the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan. A court of inquiry has been ordered to find out the cause of the accident.
The aircraft crashed minutes after taking off from the Nal airbase near Bikaner at 16:40 local time.
In early 2007 the IAF was considering a programme to re-engine 126 Jaguars with the Honeywell F125 powerplant. This offers a 9% increase in dry thrust over the Adour Mk811, and a 12% increase in afterburner.
An IAF Jaguar crashed on takeoff from Jamnagar airbase in Gujarat on October 26th 2007. The pilot ejected successfully.
Some time in September or October 2007 the Jaguar M squadron based at Pune was relocated to the IAF base at Jamnagar, on the Gulf of Kuchchh in the state of Gujarat.
In July 2008 the IAF announced an upgrade of 68 Jaguars with the DARIN III digital nav/attack system.
Six IAF Jaguars from the Gorakhpur air base arrived at Thumrait air base on October 22nd 2009 to take part in Exercise "Eastern Bridge" with the Omani AF' Jaguars and F-16s. The exercise ended on October 29th.
The first flight of a DARIN III-equipped Jaguar took place at Bangalore on November 28th 2012. The upgrade incorporates new state-of-the-art avionics architecture including Mission Computer (MC), Engine and Flight Instrument System (EFIS), Solid State Digital Video Recording System (SSDVRS), Solid State Flight Data Recorder (SSFDR) and additional functions in inertial global positioning system (INGPS), autopilot, radar and RWR.
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