IAF Gnat Not First To Surrender. !

[Windjammer]

The surrendering of IAF Gnat at the beginning of the 1965 war has been well documented, but few people know that this was not the first Indian aircraft forced to land inside Pakistan. Earlier in the same year during operation Dessert Hawk, an IAF Dassault Ouragan was intercepted and forced to land near Jangshahi.

 

[TaimiKhan]

good piece of information, many won't know this.

 

[Imran Khan]

waiting for sir murad abut info.

 

[AliFarooq]

waiting for sir murad abut info.

I think sir Murad confirmed it in one of the older threads.

 

[TOPGUN]

Good piece of info forsure will open some eyes thx!

 

[sonicboom]

The Dassault M.D.450 Ouragan (French: Hurricane) was an early post WWII French jet fighter-bomber aircraft. The first French designed jet fighter to enter production, the Ouragan was operated by Israel, India and El Salvador as well as France, with Israeli aircraft participating both in the Suez Crisis and Six-Day War. The Ouragan played a key role in resurgence of the French aviation industry after World War II.

On 25 June 1953, India ordered 71 Ouragans with the slightly uprated Nene 105 engine, with deliveries starting that year and completed in March 1954. An additional order for 33 second-hand Ouragans in March 1957 brought the total to 104. The Indians named the aircraft Toofani (Hindi: Hurricane).

The Indian Toofanis faced combat in 1961, when they performed air strikes against the Portuguese colony of Diu on the western coast of India. They were also used in ground attack missions against anti-government rebels in Assam and Nagaland, and in 1962 for reconnaissance missions in the Sino-Indian War.

One Toofani strayed over the border with Pakistan on 24 April 1965, and was forced to land by a pair of Pakistani Sabres. While the pilot was returned to India, the aircraft was retained and ended up being displayed at the Pakistan Air Force Museum at Peshawar.

Dassault Ouragan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Muradk]

IAF pilot got into really bad weather when he came out he was in PAK Air Space Butt sb and Arshad got after him Os were no match against sabers specially 2 of them the pilot was sensible to land, Later IAF grounded O and vampires.

 

[Windjammer]

IAF pilot got into really bad weather when he came out he was in PAK Air Space Butt sb and Arshad got after him Os were no match against sabers specially 2 of them the pilot was sensible to land, Later IAF grounded O and vampires.

The Vampires were actually grounded after the opening encounter of the 1965 war. The Indian Sector Commander under pressure from Pakistan Army in the Chambh area sent out an SOS call sign "Bottle of Whiskey", which duly arrived in the shape of four IAF Vampire fighter/bombers, however S.L. S.A.Rafiqui and F.L. I.A.Bhati made a short work of the Indian aircraft bagging two each in full view of Pakistani ground forces.
After this initial encounter, the IAF withdrew all it's Vampires and Ouragans from service.

 

[Kompromat]

Good on you Windjammer never knew about it before , cheers for sharing

 

[ghazi52]

IAF pilot got into really bad weather when he came out he was in PAK Air Space Butt sb and Arshad got after him Os were no match against sabers specially 2 of them the pilot was sensible to land, Later IAF grounded O and vampires.

Sir, nice to see you back.

 

[Windjammer]

Some interesting aspects of the Ouragans's interception are as follow,

"On 24 April, after early warning from Badin, a section of two Sabres was scrambled from Mauripur to intercept a single aircraft heading into Pakistan air space. Eventually visual confirmation that the target was an Ouragan fighter-bomber of IAF and flying at about 2000ft AGL, resulted from a warning pass made by PAF Sabres. Before they could position themselves for an attack, however, the Ouragan lowered undercarriage and flaps in surrender, and made a forced landing near the village of Jangshahi. Apart from wiping off it's wheels, the Ouragan received little damage on landing, and the pilot, F.L. Rana Sika of No 51 Auxiliary Squadron, Jamnagar was soon captured unhurt, AFTER ATTEMPTING TO PASS HIMSELF OFF AS A MEMBER OF THE PAF.!!!!!

 

[Windjammer]

The pilot of the surrendered Gnat, S.L. Brij Pal Singh Sikand, who was CO of an IAF Gnat squadron claimed that his two 30mm cannon had jammed. When the Gnat flew into Sargodha three days later, flown by a PAF pilot, it was greeted with acclamation, and it's few secrets were soon laid bare, it was recognised as an effective little aircraft although with limited range and an inferior turning circle to the Sabre. As for it's much boosted reputation as "Sabre-Slayer", it seems that in this respect, the Indians appear to have been victims of their own propaganda. Certainly the Gnat was regarded by the PAF with less respect than the Hunter. And when it's guns were tested immediately after it's capture, they worked perfectly...................!!!!!!

 

[Muradk]

The pilot of the surrendered Gnat, S.L. Brij Pal Singh Sikand, who was CO of an IAF Gnat squadron claimed that his two 30mm cannon had jammed. When the Gnat flew into Sargodha three days later, flown by a PAF pilot, it was greeted with acclamation, and it's few secrets were soon laid bare, it was recognised as an effective little aircraft although with limited range and an inferior turning circle to the Sabre. As for it's much boosted reputation as "Sabre-Slayer", it seems that in this respect, the Indians appear to have been victims of their own propaganda. Certainly the Gnat was regarded by the PAF with less respect than the Hunter. And when it's guns were tested immediately after it's capture, they worked perfectly...................!!!!!!

You are taking about Gnat which was force landed by Hakimullah ??, later Hatimi flew it to PAF Base.

 

[Windjammer]

You are taking about Gnat which was force landed by Hakimullah ??, later Hatimi flew it to PAF Base.

Yes, a little off topic but i was replying to another member who was giving too much credit to the Gnat, but his post has since been removed.

 

[Windjammer]

ACKNOWLEDGING THE VICTOR. !

Soon after the 1965 war ended, the IAF Commander made an official visit to Pakistan, in diplomatic terms, it was a confirmation of defeat while acknowledging PAF's superiority.