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) |
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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