Indian Air Force Losses - 1965 War


The Indian Air Force never released an official list of casualities  The tables here is a result of painstaking research and has been compiled after referring to various sources including retired officers and unclassified documents . Though the figures for Air to Air combat and AA Losses were accurate, we missed out the figures for Operational Accidents and those destroyed on ground. The revelations of the Official Indian History of the 1965 War has set right these anamolies.

Aircraft

Air Action

Opl Accidents Lost on Ground Aircraft

INDIAN AIR FORCE :  71

-

Vampires

4 - 6 10

Mysteres

6 3(1) 9 18

Hunters

10 4(1) 3 17

Gnats

2 3(1) 2 7
Canberra 1 1 4 6
MiG-21 - - 3 3
Packet - - 3 3
Dakota - - 5 5
Auster 1(1) 1 - 2

INDIAN NAVY :  1

-
Sea Hawk - 1 - 1

CIVILIAN/OTHERS  :  3

-
Dakota - - 1 1
Caribou - - 1 1
Beechcraft 1 - - 1
TOTAL 25 13 37 75

Note: Figures in Parenthesis denote that details not available in these tables.

Details of aircraft lost by the Indian Air Force in the air due to all causes

Date

Aircraft

Sqn 

Rank & Name

Location

Cause

Fate

1 -Sep-65

Vampire

220

Flt Lt S V  Pathak

Chamb

AAA

B/O

1 -Sep-65

Vampire

45

Sqn Ldr S  Bharadwaj

Chamb

SD by Sqn Ldr S A Rafique,  F-86

Killed

1 -Sep-65

Vampire

45

Flt Lt A K  Bhagwagar

Chamb

SD by Sqn Ldr S A Rafique,  F-86

Killed

1 -Sep-65

Vampire

220

Flt Lt V M  Joshi

Chamb

SD by Flt Lt I A Bhatti,  F-86

Killed

3 -Sep-65

Gnat

2

Sqn Ldr B S  Sikand

Pasrur

FL by F-104, Flt Lt Hakimullah

POW

6 -Sep-65

Hunter

7

Sqn Ldr A K  Rawlley

Tarntaran

Cr  in AA Combat, S/L M M Alam, 

Killed

6 -Sep-65

Hunter

7

Flt Lt P S  Pingale

Halwara

SD by Sqn Ldr S A Rafique,  F-86

E/S

6 -Sep-65

Hunter

7

Fg Off A R  Gandhi

Halwara

SD by Flt Lt C Choudary,  F-86

E/S

7 -Sep-65

Mystere

1

Sqn Ldr A B  Devayya

Sargodha

SD by Flt Lt Y Hussain,  F-104

Killed

7 -Sep-65

Hunter

27

Sqn Ldr O N  Kacker

Sargodha

Booster pump failure

POW

7 -Sep-65

Hunter

7

Fg Off J S  Brar

Sargodha

SD by Sqn Ldr M M Alam,  F-86

Killed

7 -Sep-65

Hunter

7

Sqn Ldr S B  Bhagwat

Sargodha

SD by Sqn Ldr M M Alam,  F-86

Killed

7 -Sep-65

Mystere

3

Sqn Ldr Jasbeer Singh

Rahwali

Hit ground during raid on Rahwali

Killed

7 -Sep-65

Mystere

1

Flt Lt U B  Guha

Sargodha

SD by Flt Lt A H Malik,  F-86

Killed

7 -Sep-65

Auster

659

Capt S Khurana

Lahore

Crashed while Landing

Killed

8 -Sep-65

Hunter

7

Fg Off M V  Singh

.

AAA

POW

9 -Sep-65

Hunter

27

Flt Lt G S  Ahuja

.

Cr after MAC with a Hunter.

Killed

10 -Sep-65

Canberra

35

?

Halwara

Cr during Landing after Birdhit

Safe

10 -Sep-65

Mystere

?

Fg Off D P  Chinoy

.

AAA

E/S

11 -Sep-65

Mystere

1

Sqn Ldr R K  Uppal

.

AAA

Killed

13 -Sep-65

Gnat

2

Flt Lt A N  Kale

.

SD by Flt Lt Yusuf Khan,  F-86

E/S

13 -Sep-65

Mystere

31

Flt Lt T S  Sethi

.

AAA

Killed

13 -Sep-65

Mystere

8

Flt Lt L  Sadarangani

.

AAA Lahore

POW

14 -Sep-65

Gnat

2

Flt Lt N K  Malik

.

Cr  due to technical failure

Killed

15 -Sep-65

Hunter

27

Flt Lt T K  Chaudary

Halwara

BO after Flameout due to Birdhit

Killed

16 -Sep-65

Hunter

20

Fg Off F  Dara Bunsha

Halwara

SD by Sqn Ldr M M Alam,  F-86

Killed

18 -Sep-65

Sea Hawk

300

Sub Lt K P Verma

Bombay

Crashed after take off

Killed

19 -Sep-65

Gnat

9

Flt Lt V M  Mayadev

Kasur

SD by Sqn Ldr Saiful Azam,  F-86

POW

20 -Sep-65

Hunter

7

Sqn Ldr D P  Chatterjee

Lahore

SD by Sqn Ldr Changezi,  F-86

Killed

20 -Sep-65

Hunter

7

Flt Lt S K  Sharma

Lahore

SD by Sqn Ldr Jilani,  F-86

E/S

21 -Sep-65

Canberra

5

Fg Off M M  Lowe (Pilot)
& Fg Off K K  Kapur (Nav)

Fazilka

SD by Wg Cdr J A Khan,  F-104, Lowe taken POW, Kapur killed

Nav Killed

22 -Sep-65

Hunter

20

Flt Lt K C  Cariappa

.

AAA

POW

22 -Sep-65

Mystere

3

Flt Lt P R Ramchandani

Lahore

Own AAA Lahore, Ejected

Killed

Unknown

Auster

-

-

.

AAA

-

 

List of aircraft lost by the Indian Air Force on the ground

Date No   Lost Type Sqn/Unit Cause Remarks
6 -Sep-65 2 MiG-21 28 PAF attack
on Pathankot
Flt Lt M R  Murdeshwar's
Gnat (IE 1112) lost
6 -Sep-65 6 Mystere -
6 -Sep-65 1 Gnat 23
6 -Sep-65 1 C-119 -
6 -Sep-65 1 MiG-21 28 B-57 Raid on Adampur -
7 -Sep-65 2 Canberra 16 First PAF attack
on Kalaikunda
Wg Cdr Wilson and Sqn Ldr Karve's aircraft destroyed in raid
7 -Sep-65 4 Vampire 24
7 -Sep-65 2 Canberra 16 PAF Raid on Kalaikunda -
7 -Sep-65 1 Dakota - PAF Raid on Srinagar -

10 -Sep-65

1

C-119

-

PAF Raid on Baghdogra

Sqn Ldr M J  Marston died of wounds

10 -Sep-65

1

Vampire

10

12 -Sep-65

1

Mystere

3

B-57 Raid on Pathankot

-

13 -Sep-65

2

Mystere

32

B-57 Raid on Adampur

-

13 -Sep-65

1

Dakota

-

B-57 Raid on Jammu

-

14 -Sep-65

1

C-119

-

PAF Raid on Barrackpore

-

14 -Sep-65

1

Dakota

-

14 -Sep-65

2

Hunter

-

B-57 Raid on Halwara

-

14 -Sep-65

1

Dakota

-

B-57 Raid on Pathankot

-

14 -Sep-65 1 Vampire - PAF attack
on Jamnagar
-
14 -Sep-65 1 Dakota -
14 -Sep-65 1 Hunter -

20 -Sep-65

1

Gnat

-

B-57 Raid on Halwara

-

35

List of other aircraft lost by Civilians

Date

Type

Pilot Name

Owner/Unit  No

Cause

Fate

Remarks

7 -Sep-65 Dakota - Indian Airlines PAF Raid on Srinagar - Destroyed
7 -Sep-65 Caribou - UNMOGIP PAF Raid on Srinagar - -

21 -Sep-65

Beechcraft

J M  Engineer

Gujarat Government

SD by F-86

Killed

Unknown

Summary:

Total No   of Aircraft Lost In Air (incl 1 Civ, 2 Army, 1 Navy)

38

Total No   of Aircraft lost on ground (incl 2 Civ)

37

-

-

TOTAL NO  OF AIRCRAFT LOST IN THE CONFLICT

75

Note: POW - Prisoner of War, E/S - Ejected Safely, B/O - Baled Out


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