Southern Air Command (India)

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Southern Air Command
SAC Crest.jpg
Emblem of the Southern Air Command
Founded19 July 1984
CountryIndia
BranchIndian Air Force
TypeOperational Air Command
HeadquartersThiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Motto(s)Sanskrit: Antariksham Prashasmahe
We Command the space
Commanders
Air Officer Commanding-in-ChiefAir Marshal Jonnalagedda Chalapati, VSM[1]

The Southern Air Command (SAC) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, which is on the southwestern side of India. This is one among the seven commands of IAF. This command was started on 19 July 1984 and is relatively new among the other commands. The conflicts in Sri Lanka and the need for establishing a strong base over the Indian Ocean resulted to the formation of this new command. The SAC was inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[2]

From 1984 to 1999, the command grew from 5 lodger units to 17 lodger units under its jurisdiction. Air-sea rescue in the Indian Ocean may be among the command's tasks.

Organization[]

Squadrons include:

Squadron Base Equipment Notes
No. 121 Helicopter Flight, IAF Car Nicobar Air Force Station Mil Mi-8 No. 37 Wing
No. 122 Helicopter Flight, IAF Car Nicobar Air Force Station Mil Mi-8 No. 37 Wing
No. 33 Squadron IAF Sulur Air Force Station Antonov An-32 No. 43 Wing
No. 109 Helicopter Unit, IAF Sulur Air Force Station Mi-17 V5 No. 43 Wing
No. 45 Squadron IAF[3] Sulur Air Force Station HAL Tejas No. 43 Wing
No. 18 Squadron IAF[4] Sulur Air Force Station HAL Tejas
No. 222 Squadron IAF[5] Thanjavur Air Force Station Sukhoi Su-30 MKI[6] No. 47 Wing[7]
Technical area of the air command in Shangumukham near the Trivandrum International Airport

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief[]

List of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Rank Name From To
Air Marshal Joseph Desa 18 June 1984[8] 30 November 1986
1 January 1986[8] 30 September 1987
21 December 1987[8] 31 October 1989
7 November 1989[8] 31 March 1991
13 May 1991[8] 30 April 1992
1 May 1992[8] 31 July 1993
3 September 1993[8] 31 March 1995
1 May 1995[8] 30 April 1997
Krishnan Narayan Nair 1 May 1997[8] 2 June 1999
15 January 1999[8] 31 August 2000
1 September 2000[8] 12 March 2002
18 March 2002[8] 31 December 2002
1 January 2003[8] 31 December 2003
2 January 2004[8] 30 September 2004
1 August 2004[8] 31 August 2006
1 September 2006[8] 31 January 2007
1 February 2007[8] 31 March 2008
1 April 2008[8] 30 September 2008
Sadasivan Radhakrishnan 1 October 2008[8] 31 August 2009
1 September 2009[8] 30 June 2011
1 July 2011[8] 31 July 2012
1 August 2012[8] 31 December 2013
1 January 2014[8] 31 May 2015
Jasbir Walia 1 June 2015[8] 31 July 2016
Sunderraman Neelakantan 1 August 2016 1 March 2017
Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria 1 March 2017 1 August 2018
Balakrishnan Suresh 1 August 2018 30 October 2019
Amit Tiwari 1 November 2019 31 January 2021
Manavendra Singh 1 February 2021 25 September 2021
Jonnalagedda Chalapati 4 October 2021 Present

References[]

  1. ^ "Air Marshal Manavendra Singh Takes Charge as Chief of Indian Air Force's Southern Command". NDTV. 3 February 2021.
  2. ^ Indian Air Force, Southern Air Command Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Tejas Commences Operations from Kerala's Sulur Air Force Station".
  4. ^ Thomas, Wilson (27 May 2020). "IAF operationalises second LCA squadron, inducts first LCA Tejas in FOC standard". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Thanjavur set to host South India's first Sukhoi Squadron". 4 January 2020.
  6. ^ 28 Feb, TNN | Updated; 2019; Ist, 4:37. "Sulur air base to get one more LCA squadron | Coimbatore News". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 September 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Antony Dedicates to Nation New Air Force Station at Thanjavur".
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "Southern Air Command - BRF". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 8 May 2021.

External links[]

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