Mamata Banerjee composes song on World Music Day
World Music Day was observed in the city with great enthusiasm.
The heroism of Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in downing a Pakistani Air Force (PAF) F-16 during the aerial engagement on 27 February will now be remembered in a shoulder patch of the IAF’s Srinagar-based No. 51 Squadron.
The patch, which features a motif of a MiG 21 Bison fighter aircraft – the one that Wg Cdr Abhinandan flew on that day, bears the words ‘Falcon Slayers’. Fighting Falcon is the name by which the American-made F-16 fighter jets are also known.
Wg Cdr Varthaman belongs to the No. 51 Squadron, also called Sword Arms. The squadron has a fleet of MiG-21s.
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The ‘Flacon Slayer’ patch also depicts an F-16 under crosshairs in the background.
Besides the MiG-21 Bison squadron, a squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKIs also got a new patch with the name ‘AMRAAM Dogers’, hailing the feat of dodging the air-to-air BVR missiles fired by the F-16s during the engagement.
On 27 February, a day after the Balakot airstrike, PAF fighter jets violated Indian airspace over Jammu-Kashmir to target Indian military installations.
The PAF fighter fleet had F-16s among them. IAF fighter jets intercepted the PAF jets, resulting in an aerial engagement that led to the downing of an F-16 by Wg Cdr Varthaman. In the process, Wg Cdr Varthaman’s MiG 21 Bison was shot down and he was taken captive by Pak Army.
Wg Cdr Varthaman was released on 1 March after India successfully mounted global diplomatic pressure on Pakistan.
Patches are worn on the flying overalls. They depict a major achievement of the squadron and instil a sense of pride in all the pilots of the squadron.
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