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| India-Pakistan |
| Canberra bomber retires after 50 yrs of service |
| 2007-05-12 |
| When it avoided gunfire over Aksai Chin in 1962 to collect the first evidence of Chinese intrusions, few would have thought that the hardy Canberra aircraft would carry on to serve till the end of the century and even return with a Stinger missile embedded in its fuselage during operations in Kargil. After 50 years of service and participation in all post-Independence conflicts, the British Electric Canberra aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) retired from service on Friday. India was the last country to have the aircraft in an operational role. Summing up the mood in an emotional phasing out ceremony at the Agra Air Force Station, Air Chief Marshal F H Major observed that the aircraft had been “the eyes of the nation” and “of those who flew it, many are now legends”. “The aircraft has the distinction of participating in all conflicts right from the (1961) Congo UN operations and the Goa conflict to Operation Safed Sagar in Kargil. It is a sad moment, but the aircraft have to go,” the Air Chief said. The aircraft, inducted in 1957 as India’s first tactical jet bombers, carried on to serve a variety of roles including electronic warfare, maritime strike, strategic reconnaissance and target towing. The highest decorated living officer of the Indian Air Force, Wing Commander (retd) J M Nath, awarded the Maha Vir Chakra twice during the 1962 and 1965 wars, was among the ‘legends’ present at the phasing out ceremony. “It was an absolute delight to fly. In 1962, I flew the aircraft 50 meters off the ground in Aksai Chin to get an estimation of the Chinese army positions. If only we had been allowed to use air power during the war, each and every soldier and military target could have been taken out by the aircraft,” he said. Nehru prevented the IAF from bombing Chinese troops After being taken off frontline duties like bombing and deep reconnaissance missions, some of the aircraft formed part of India’s first top-secret electronic warfare unit. “It was a very hush-hush project to create an electronic warfare (EW) squadron. We used to go deep into Pakistan and would jam enemy radars and collect information about their systems,” former Air Chief S Krishnaswamy, who commanded India’s EW squadron consisting of modified Canberra and MiG 21 aircraft, said. The twin-engined high-altitude bomber played a crucial role during the Kargil conflict and brought the first aerial photographs of enemy entrenchments. |
| Posted by:John Frum |
| #8 And the BUFF soldiers on. Last of its generation. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-05-12 23:15 |
| #7 Nehru, the first Olmert. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-05-12 19:58 |
| #6 M Yusuf Khan, kool customer, ..thanks John.. btw why the hell did Nehru restrict the Indian Air-force from using the Canberra as a weapon system against the invading Chinese in 1962.. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-05-12 19:09 |
| #5 M Yusuf Khan Friday, 11 May 2007 Hindustan Times The incident that will be foremost in my mind when I attend the function at Air Force Station Agra when the Canberra aircraft will be ceremoniously phased out on Friday, May 11, relates to the 1971 war. On the second day of the war, I was rostered to fly a bombing mission to a heavily defended Pakistani airfield. We flew by night at very low heights. Soon after crossing the border, we picked up radar signals indicating that we were being pursued. Luckily, it turned out to be a false alarm. We reached the target and disgorged eight 1,000-pound bombs through the barrage of anti-aircraft shells. All we could see was the runway in the flashes of explosions. Our prime concern now was to shake off the interceptor aircraft lurking in the vicinity. We used every ounce of the jet energy to make a quick exit. The airfield where we intended to land was under attack forcing us to divert to Hindon. We landed there with the fuel warning light blinking, not knowing when the engines would quit. We barely spotted the dimly-lit runway and touched down. It was exhilarating. We filled our tanks and headed for Agra, our home base. Robin, returning from a mission, was low on fuel. I made an extra orbit so that he could land first, then I came in for landing. As we hurtled down the runway, I saw flashes ahead of us. It took me a while to realise that they were exploding bombs dropped by Pakistani aircraft. I felt so utterly hopeless. There was no evasive action we could take. Mohanty, my navigator, was yelling to stop the aircraft but I could not and went through the shrapnel, mud and debris kicked up by the Pakistani bombs. In the forthcoming get-together I am hoping to meet both Mohanty and Robin at Agra. I have to make a mention of the Pakistani pilot whose inaccurate aim made it possible for this story to be told. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-05-12 18:45 |
| #4 In the mid to late 60's both the standard and long wing version of the B57 flew out of Hill AFB, Utah. When the long wing birds took off their thunderous roar left no doubt of their departure. And those suckers could climb. I think they were the RB57F models, but could they have been the D models. RB-57F High-altitude reconnaissance version developed by General Dynamics, TF33-P-11A turbofan engines with provision for auxiliary J60-P-9 turbojets, first flight 23 June 1963; 21 built (3 converted from RB-57As, 4 from RB-57Ds, the rest from B-57Bs). Picture |
| Posted by: GK 2007-05-12 17:44 |
| #3 Oh, yeah, the B-57. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-05-12 15:45 |
| #2 A good airplane with many years honorable service. Unfortunately the US variant was shot out of service in Vietnam. When I graduated from Nav school in 72, we had about 12 left and were losing about 3 every two months. Not only were they flying hazardous missions in VietNam, but they had a tendency to lose an engine on takeoff, roll inverted, and fly into the ground. |
| Posted by: RWV 2007-05-12 12:44 |
| #1 ...IIRC though the RAF still has one or two as research and test aircraft. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-05-12 12:10 |
