Image for representation purposes only (3dsmolier.com)
It is an honour for me as an aviation enthusiast to write this story which has been little known - until now! In a recent conversation with Air Commodore Suren ‘Bundle’ Tyagi, an Indian Air Force veteran, he happened to narrate a rather quirky incident which caught my imagination and I felt this was a story that just had to be told! And as good luck would have it, Mr Pushpindar Singh of Vayu Aerospace Review tasked me with writing this story.
No.4 Squadron pilots before a mission: (left to right) Balasubramaniam, Ajit Bhavnani, Suren Tyagi and Lwarie Menezes
So we go back to July 1971, some months before Indo-Pakistani War. MiG-21FL fighters of Nos. 4 Squadron ‘Oorials’ and 28 Squadrons ‘First Supersonics’ both operating from Guwahati, were on ORP (Operational Readiness Platform) at the airfield. When an air base maintains an ORP, there are normally 2-3 fighter aircraft combat-ready, with full weapons load, tasked to scramble within 2-5 minutes. Quick history: No. 4 Squadron ‘Oorials’ was formed in Peshawar in 1942 during the Second World War, later moving to Rilaspur and then to various other places like Phaphamau, Bhopal, Sulur, Ranchi, Kanpur and then Tezpur in Assam nearer the frontlines. It has the rare distinction of not along participating in the Burma Campaign during the War, but was the only IAF unit that went to Japan as a part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces. No. 28 Squadron are decidedly the ‘First Supersonics’, being the first squadron in the Indian Air Force to receive supersonic fighters, the MiG-21 in 1963. They were initially based in Chandigarh, then moved to Tezpur in Assam before the 1971 War, and much later to Pune, converting to the new generation MiG-29 and are presently at Jamnagar, where Air Commodore Suren Tyagi has settled after his retirement. Then Flight Lieutenant Suren ‘Bundle’ Tyagi was posted to No.4 Squadron in 1971, spending many months at Guwahati, with preparations going on for the possible show down in East Pakistan. On 1 December 1971, eve of action, Flt Lt Suren Tyagi along with other pilots were relocated from Guwahati to Tezpur, whose Base Commander was Group Captain MSD ‘Mally’ Wollen, many years later to become Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command at Shillong. The MiG-21s re-located to Guwahati on 3 December evening, flying very low to avoid radar detection. Suren Tyagi was soon on ORP at sundown, staying at the Operational Readiness Room (ORR) that night, an underground facility for pilots to rest till the call for scramble, the war having begun with Pakistan carrying out attacks on IAF bases in the west.
The MiG-21FLs were parked in makeshift pens, ‘protected’ by sandbags. At dawn on 4 December, four MiG-21s were launched for CAP (Combat Air Patrol) missions while eight aircraft (4 aircraft with 500 kg bombs), plus 4 escorts took off for the first mission over enemy territory. Targets were the runways at two airfields at Dacca (then capital of East Pakistan), Tezgaon and Kurmitola, which were accurately struck by bombs as were their parallel taxi tracks. Later the same day, the MiG-21s were tasked on CAP missions as other the strike formations were returning. Early on 5 December, another CAP mission was airborne, four aircraft, two from each squadron (Nos. 4 and No.28), to provide cover over the Initial Point (IP) where 4 Hunters from Hashimara were tasked to attack the Armament Factory at Jaydevpur in East Pakistan. Flt Lt Tyagi led this section with a wingman in tactical formation, flying very low at 90 metres and speed of 840 km/h. Complete Radio Transmission (RT) silence was maintained. Two minutes before reaching the IP, CAP Leader from Guwahati, and the Strike Force from Hashimara established radio contact. Strike Force Leader: Golden Arrow 2 minutes from IP. CAP Leader: Roger, pulling up to set up CAP over IP, approaching in 1 minute. As the MiG-21s set up CAP over the IP, Strike Force Leader: Golden Arrow over IP, setting course. CAP Leader: Roger. Turning and returning. “At the stage, Suren Tyagi transmitted: One from three. Let’s wait for the Strike Force to return… We have enough fuel.” CAP Leader: Negative. Descending and returning. Suren Tyagi to his wingman: Spread out on my left in offensive sweep formation. We will fly over Dacca runways till the Strike Force returns.
Suren Tyagi, along with No.2 flew over both Kurmitola and Tezgaon, then did a tactical turn inward, rolled out, hoping that an enemy fighter would try to intercept them … unfortunately, they did not. Disappointed, and perhaps in a rush of blood, Flt Lt Tyagi decided to carry out a loop over the Tezgaon runway! Look for my tail… Going for a loop. Follow after I recover. And so he did, diving the MiG-21 and then carrying out a loop before recovering with aplomb! As he recalls, this could have been fun if we were not being shot at by anti-aircraft fire. Suddenly, there were puffs of smoke, with Pakistani AAA in action and the forbidding Meghna river below. Bundle Tyagi to No.2: Abandon loop, hard right, hard left. Coming abreast of each other, both MiG-21s then flew back to Guwahati and landed without any further excitement. That (in)famous loop was never spoken about, almost as it never happened. The War continued for another ten days, the MiG-21s of Nos. 4 and 28 Squadrons continually carrying out bombing and close support missions, enabling the Indian Army to advance forwards towards Dacca without any interference. Dacca fell on 16 December 1971 which marked end of the War, and India’s most decisive military victory. A new country ‘Bangladesh’ was created. But coming back to that loop, it must have been quite demoralising for the grounded PAF to witness such confidence of the IAF. As a PAF pilot was later quoted as saying, “on top of it all, we even witnessed an Indian fighter doing a loop over Tezgaon”. A haunting recall!
Article by Aditi Patwardhan