The Western Air Command (WAC) is the regional command of Indian Air Force headquartered in New Delhi. It is the largest and most important Air Command of the IAF, comprising sixteen Air Force Bases (AFBs), and is responsible for aerial defence of North India.
| Western Air Command, Indian Air Force | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | July 22, 1949 |
| Country | India |
| Branch | Indian Air Force |
| Type | Operational Air Command |
| Role | Air Defence, OCA, Offensive Ground Support, Civilian Relief. |
| Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Motto(s) | Sanskrit: Akasha Pasmatsoma |
| Engagements | 1962 Sino-Indian War, 1971 India-Pakistan War, Operation Meghdoot |
| Commanders | |
| Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief(AOC-in-C) | Air Marshal Pankaj Mohan Sinha, AVSM, VSM[1] |
| Notable commanders | Air Marshal MSD Wollen Air Chief Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy |
WAC's Area of Responsibility extends from Jammu and Kashmir to Rajasthan, also covering the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh.[2]
History
editWAC was raised in 1947 as the No. 1 Operational Group which controlled all the flying units of Indian Air Force, including the flying training units. On July 22, 1949, the No. 1 Operational Group was re-designated as the Operational Command. In 1958, the rank of the Commanding Officer of Operational Command was upgraded from Air Commodore to Air Vice Marshal and later, to the rank of Air Marshal.
In the aftermath of the India-China War of 1962, the IAF began the process of demarcation of specific areas of responsibility, and splitting up of the flying Corps into various operational air commands. On June 10, 1963, Operational Command assumed its present name of Headquarters Western Air Command.
Due to its geographical location in the crucial North Indian region, surrounded by Pakistan to the west and China to the East, WAC has been involved in all major operations in India since independence, and has been the hub-centre of all operational activities during any operation.
The IAF Western Air Command is engaged in air logistics operations to supply troops deployed at Siachen Glacier. These operations are undertaken from the Siachen Forward Air Base, using Mi-17, HAL Dhruv and HAL Cheetah helicopters.
The Western Air Command has been the major operational command involved in most of the war fought by India, including the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, Sino-Indian War in 1962, the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, Operation Pawan (1986) in Sri Lanka and Operation Safed Sagar during the 1999 Kargil War.
Organization
edit
Western Air Command is headquartered at Subroto Park, New Delhi. It is headed by an Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, WAC, of the rank of Air Marshal. Under the C-in-C come the Senior Air Staff Officer, Senior Maintenance Staff Officer and Senior Officer in Charge of Administration, who are of the ranks of Air Vice Marshal or Air Marshal. They handle the day-to-day activities of the Command and act as the liaison between the various Wings.
WAC also has a forward headquarters located at Chandigarh near the Army's Western Command. There is an Air Operations Group, formed in 1982, located at Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, which is principally tasked with the defence of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.[2]
No. 224 Squadron, Indian Air Force was raised in July 1983 at Adampur and operated with WAC until its disbandment in 2007. Squadrons include:
Air Bases
editWAC has been assigned 10 permanent Air Force Stations (AFS)and 6 Forward Base Support Units (FBSUs), including the strategic Forward Air Base at Siachen. Along with these, WAC also has over 200 operational bases, Advance Landing Grounds (ALGs), and Operational centres placed under its command.
The Air Force Stations/Wings under WAC control are:[4]
Forward Base Support Units (FBSU)
edit| Base | ICAO | Runway | Elevation | Coordinates | State/Territory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amritsar AFS | VIAR | 16/34 | 755 ft / 230 m | 31°42′27.95″N 74°47′57.25″E / 31.7077639°N 74.7992361°E | Punjab |
| Bathinda AFS | VIBT | 13/31 | 700 ft /213 m | 30°16′12.50″N 74°45′20.78″E / 30.2701389°N 74.7557722°E | Punjab |
| Sarsawa AFS | VISP | 09/27 | 891 ft / 272 m | 29°59′39.53″N 77°25′27.25″E / 29.9943139°N 77.4242361°E | Uttar Pradesh |
| Siachen Glacier AFS | 22,000 ft / 6,706 m | 35°30′N 77°00′E / 35.5°N 77.0°E | Ladakh | ||
| Sirsa AFS | VISA | 05/23 | 650 ft / 198 m | 29°33′38.09″N 75°00′21.87″E / 29.5605806°N 75.0060750°E | Haryana |
| Udhampur AFS | VIUX | 18/36 | 1,950 ft / 594 m | 32°54′08.06″N 75°09′18.54″E / 32.9022389°N 75.1551500°E | Jammu & Kashmir |
List of Commanders
edit| Rank | Name | Assumed office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Operational Group | |||
| Air Commodore | Mehar Singh | 22 December 1947[5] | 27 September 1948 |
| Aspy Engineer | 27 September 1948[5] | 21 July 1949 | |
| Air Officer Commanding Operational Command | |||
| Air Commodore | Aspy Engineer | 22 July 1949[6] | 11 December 1950 |
| Arjan Singh | 12 December 1950[6] | 11 December 1952 | |
| Atma Ram Nanda | 12 December 1952[6] | 7 December 1955 | |
| Arjan Singh | 8 December 1955[6] | 30 April 1958 | |
| Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Operational Command | |||
| Air Vice Marshal | Arjan Singh | 1 May 1958[6] | 17 November 1959 |
| Erlic Wilmot Pinto | 17 November 1959[6] | 9 June 1963 | |
| Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command | |||
| Air Vice Marshal | Erlic Wilmot Pinto | 10 January 1963[7] | 22 November 1963 |
| Pratap Chandra Lal | 24 November 1963[7] | 30 September 1964 | |
| Ramaswamy Rajaram | 1 October 1964[7] | 4 March 1966 | |
| Shivdev Singh | 5 March 1966[7] | 29 February 1968 | |
| Air Marshal | 1 March 1969[7] | 31 July 1969 | |
| Minoo Merwan Engineer | 6 August 1969[7] | 31 March 1973 | |
| Hrushikesh Moolgavkar | 1 April 1973[7] | 31 January 1976 | |
| Edul Jahangir Dhatigara | 1 February 1976[7] | 3 September 1978 | |
| Dilbagh Singh | 1 October 1978[7] | 31 December 1980 | |
| Lakshman Madhav Katre | 5 January 1981[7] | 28 February 1983 | |
| Malcolm Shirley Dundas Wollen | 1 March 1983[7] | 30 September 1981 | |
| Denis Anthony Lafontaine | 1 November 1981[7] | 2 July 1985 | |
| Man Mohan Singh | 22 July 1985[7] | 31 July 1988 | |
| Prithi Singh | 1 August 1988[7] | 30 April 1992 | |
| Swaroop Krishna Kaul | 1 May 1992[7] | 31 July 1993 | |
| Pratap Rao | 3 September 1993[7] | 5 July 1994 | |
| Satish Kumar Sareen | 6 July 1994[7] | 31 July 1995 | |
| Anil Yashwant Tipnis | 1 August 1995[7] | 31 March 1997 | |
| Vinod Patney | 1 April 1997[7] | 31 October 1999 | |
| Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy | 1 November 1999[7] | 1 July 2001 | |
| Vinod Kumar Bhatia | 1 August 2001[7] | 28 April 2002 | |
| Adi Rustomji Ghandhi | 29 April 2002[7] | 16 November 2003 | |
| Shashindra Pal Tyagi | 16 November 2003[7] | 31 December 2004 | |
| Avdesh Kumar Singh | 1 January 2005[7] | 31 January 2007 | |
| Padamjit Singh Ahluwalia | 1 February 2007[7] | 31 December 2007 | |
| Pranab Kumar Barbora | 1 January 2008[7] | 31 May 2009 | |
| Norman Anil Kumar Browne | 1 January 2009[7] | 31 December 2010 | |
| Dinesh Chandra Kumaria | 1 January 2011[7] | 31 May 2012 | |
| Arup Raha | 1 June 2012[7] | 30 June 2013 | |
| Suneet Shripad Soman | 1 July 2013[7] | 31 August 2015 | |
| Shirish Baban Deo | 1 September 2015[7] | 31 December 2016 | |
| Chandrashekharan Hari Kumar | 1 January 2017[7] | 28 February 2019 | |
| Raghunath Nambiar | 1 March 2019[7] | 31 October 2019 | |
| Balakrishnan Suresh | 1 November 2019[7] | 31 July 2020 | |
| Vivek Ram Chaudhari | 1 August 2020[7] | 30 June 2021 | |
| Balabhadra Radha Krishna | 1 July 2021[7] | 30 September 2021 | |
| Amit Dev | 1 October 2021[7] | 28 February 2022 | |
| Sreekumar Prabhakaran | 1 March 2022[7] | 31 December 2022 | |
| Pankaj Mohan Sinha | 1 January 2023[1] | Incumbent | |
References
edit- ^ a b "AIR MARSHAL PANKAJ MOHAN SINHA ASSUMES COMMAND OF IAF'S WESTERN AIR COMMAND" (Press release). PIB. 2023-01-01.
- ^ a b WAC at Globalsecurity.org
- ^ "AFS Sirsa Su -30MKI for Reference".
- ^ "IAF Commands". Defenceindia.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009.
- ^ a b "No 1 Operational Group (WAC), Indian Air Force - Database". Bharat Rakshak.
- ^ a b c d e f "Operational Command, Indian Air Force - Database". Bharat Rakshak.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al "Western Air Command - BRF". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
External links
edit- Western Air Command at IAF Official Website.
- Bharat Rakshak, IAF Command Structure