Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment or TACDE is an

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 ...

unit for training aerial combat to its top one percent fighter pilots. TACDE is based in

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 ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. It was conferred Presidential standard in 2009. The institution evolves tactical procedures for various aircraft, implements standard operating procedures and trains pilots in operational doctrines.

History

On 1 February 1971, TACDE was founded by

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

A. K. Mukherjee alongside

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

R S Chib as Tactics and Combat Development and Training Squadron (T&CD&TS) at

Adampur Adampur is a town, a municipal council and a sub-tehsil in Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab. The town was named after the Mughal general Adham Khan. Geography Adampur Doaba is located at . It has an average elevation of 233&nbs ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. The formation was re-designated as TACDE in December 1972. The institution has numerous awards and honors including

Vir Chakra The Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋ iː ɾ a tʃ a kɾa, ) is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of gallantry on the battlefield, on land or in the air or at sea. It is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards and ...

and

Kirti Chakra The Kirti Chakra () is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the ...

. TACDE was awarded ‘Battle Honours’ by the President of India in 1995 for its role in the Indo-Pak conflict of 1971. TACDE was eventually relocated to Gwalior, transforming the airbase into a crucible for refining India’s aerial combat doctrine. The base’s long runways and proximity to restricted airspace made it ideal for hosting live training and advanced fighter tactics development. Today, TACDE and the Mirage squadrons at Gwalior form a critical training and operational axis within the IAF.

TACDE fighters collision on 28 January 2023

On the morning of 28 January 2023, three TACDE pilots, including a Mirage 2000H instructor pilot, were involved in a mid-air collision involving a TACDE dual-seat Su-30MKI and a TACDE single-seat Mirage 2000H. The Mirage-2000H pilot, Wing Commander Hanumanth Rao Sarathi, was unable to eject and died in the accident, whilst the two other pilots, flying the Su-30MKI, ejected and were hospitalized with minor injuries. Both fighter jets had taken off from Gwalior for a training mission.

Inventory

Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, delta wing, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French ...

Sukhoi Su-30MKI The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a two-seater, twinjet Multirole combat aircraft, multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautic ...

Mikoyan MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Suk ...

Notable alumni

* Pradeep Vasant Naik * Anil Yashwant Tipnis * Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy * Jasbir Walia *

Chandrashekharan Hari Kumar Air Marshal Chandrashekharan Hari Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM, ADC is a retired officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Western Air Command from 1 January 2017 to 28 February 2019. He assum ...

* Sunderraman Neelakantan * Balakrishnan Suresh * Diptendu Choudhury

References

{{Indian military academies and colleges Military units and formations of the Indian Air Force Military education and training in India 1971 establishments in India Educational institutions established in 1971

History

TACDE fighters collision on 28 January 2023

Inventory

Notable alumni

See also

References