The Central Air Command is one of the five operational commands of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

. It is currently headquartered in

Prayagraj Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. It was formed on 19 March 1962, at Rani Kuthee,

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

History

Due to the possibility of war with China, No. 1 Operational Group was formed on 27 May 1958 at Ranikuthee in

, to look after all the units. In 1959, it was upgraded to Eastern Air Force (EAF). In 1962, after the

Sino-Indian War The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

, EAF was moved to Shillong and Central Air Command (CAC) was formed on 19 March 1962 with its headquarters at Rani Kuthee,

(now Kolkata). Calcutta was considered an inappropriate location for the Central Air Command Headquarters and it was relocated to Allahabad in February 1966. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, CAC

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havilla ...

s carried out 163 bombing and 33 close air support sorties against Pakistani forces, and raided

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

airbases at Mauripur,

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi language, Punjabi/; ; ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Central Punjab, central Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 11th most populous city and ...

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, and Chaklala. Squadron Leader Charanjit Singh and Flt Lt Mangat Singh made a 'brilliant raid' on the night of 13–14 September 1965, by carrying out a major air base attacks at Peshawar. Three

Mahavir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military Medal, decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced ...

s were awarded to the members of Canberra squadrons. In a major attack, seven Canberras of No. 35 Squadron attacked the oil storage tanks at

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, destroying about 60% of Pakistan's oil reserves. On 3 November 1988, during the 1988 Maldives coup d'état, Indian troops were airlifted to Maldives in two CAC

Ilyushin Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-1 ...

s and landed at Hulule airport on a dark unlit runway. By 2.30am on 4 November the Indian forces completed their mission and safely brought back the President of Maldives. In operation "Safed Sagar" during the

Kargil war The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

in 1999, CAC played a prominent role by successfully carrying out attacks on enemy bases. The IAF's first exercise with a foreign air force (Garud) took place with the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

in Gwalior in 2003 and CAC participated in an eight-day exercise. A number of joint exercises have been conducted with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, the Singapore Air Force and

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

at Gwalior and Agra.

Organization

Squadrons include:

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief

Operations

The CAC mainly patrols the North Central part of India. It has airbases at

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the West Rapti River, Rapti river in the Purvanchal , Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometres east of ...

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

and

and some units are located at Bihta,

Darbhanga Darbhanga is the fifth largest city and municipal corporation in the state of Bihar in India, and is considered an important city in North Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Darbhanga district and the Darbhanga division. Darbhanga ...

, Bakshi-ka-Talab,

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

, Memaura and

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

. The CAC operates fixed-wing aircraft such as the Mirage 2000, Antonov An-32,

and

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. 245 were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics ...

; and helicopters such as the

Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the ...

Mil Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories in Russia, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russ ...

and Mil Mi-26.

References

{{Indian Air Force Commands of the Indian Air Force Military units and formations established in 1962 Military units and formations of the Indian Air Force 1962 establishments in West Bengal

History

Organization

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief

Operations

See also

References