Operation Safed Sagar Kargil Conflict 1999
The codename was assigned to IAF’s strike to support the ground troops during the Kargil conflict that was aimed to flush out regular and irregular troops of the Pakistan Army from vacated Indian positions in the Kargil sector along the Line of Control. It was the first large-scale use of air power in the Jammu & Kashmir region since the Indo-Pak war of 1971.
Operation Cactus Male 1988
On the night of November 3, IAF mounted special operations to airlift a parachute battalion group from Agra, covering over 2,000 km non-stop beyond the south-western coast of India to the remote Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives. In response to that government’s appeal for military help against a mercenary invasion, the IL-76s of No. 44 Squadron landed at Hulule at 0030 hours, the paratroopers securing the airfield and restoring government rule at Male within hours. Build-up of forces continued the next day, with IL-76s, An-12s and An-32s flown to the Maldives from Trivandrum, while IAF’s Mirage 2000s made low-level passes over the scattered islands in a show of force. The most immediate reality that emerged from this brief, and bloodless, action was the swift and effective Indian military response, made possible by IAF’s strategic airlift capability.
Operation Pawan IPKF, Sri Lanka, 1987-90
The mission of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka lasted 30 months. Some 70,000 sorties were flown by IAF’s transport and helicopter force to and within the island nation, without a single aircraft lost or mission aborted. In support of nearly 100,000 troops and paramilitary forces, IAF’s An-32s maintained a continuous air link from air bases in southern India to divisional headquarters at Palaly (Jaffna), Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa, transporting men, equipment and rations, and evacuating casualties on the outbound flights—No. 19 Squadron being the main formation involved. Earlier, during the massive build-up in the Jaffna peninsula in October 1987, IAF carried out more transport and helicopter sorties in support of the ground forces in action than at any such concentrated space and time in the history of the armed forces of India. In 20 days, some 3,000 tactical transport and assault helicopter sorties were flown during the bitter fighting to disarm the LTTE as a key proviso of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord.
Operation Poomalai Sri Lanka, 1987
Also known as Eagle Mission 4, the codename was assigned to a mission undertaken by IAF to airdrop supplies over the besieged town of Jaffna on June 4, 1987, in support of Tamil Tigers during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Operation Meghdoot Ladakh, 1984
It was in support of the Indian Army and paramilitary forces in Northern Ladakh, to secure control of the heights predominating the Siachen glacier—also referred to as the world’s third pole and potentially a dangerous flash point on the disputed northern borders. IAF IL-76s, An-12s and An-32s transported stores and troops, airdropped supplies to high altitude airfields while Mi-17s, Mi-8s, Chetaks and Cheetahs ferried men and material to dizzy heights far above the limits set by the helicopter manufacturers. Fighting for this “roof-of-the world” since April 1984, the IAF’s incredible performance at the extremes of temperature and altitude remains a continuing saga of fortitude and skill. But few people know that Siachen operations actually started way back in 1978.
Operation Rahat Uttarakhand 2013
In the biggest civilian rescue operation in the world carried out by any air force, IAF evacuated civilians affected by the floods in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in 2013. The IAF airlifted 19,600 people, flying 2,140 sorties and dropping/landing 3,82,400 kg of relief material and equipment. The force repeated its heroics during the floods in Jammu & Kashmir last year, saving many lives.