The Central Air Command is one of the five operational commands of the Indian Air Force. It is currently headquartered in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. It was formed on 19 March 1962, at Rani Kuthee, Calcutta.
| Central Air Command, Indian Air Force | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Central Air Command | |
| Founded | 19 March 1962 |
| Country | India |
| Branch | Indian Air Force |
| Type | Operational Air Command |
| Role | Air Defence, OCA, Offensive Ground Support, Airlift. |
| Headquarters | Prayagraj |
| Motto(s) | Damniyah Atmashatravah |
| Engagements | 1962 Sino-Indian War, East Pakistan Operations 1971, Operation Meghdoot, Orissa Super-Cyclone Relief, 1999 |
| Commanders | |
| Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief | Air Marshal Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor, AVSM, VM |
History
Due to the possibility of war with China, No. 1 Operational Group was formed on 27 May 1958 at Ranikuthee in Calcutta, to look after all the units. In 1959, it was upgraded to Eastern Air Force (EAF). In 1962, after the Sino-Indian War, EAF was moved to Shillong and Central Air Command (CAC) was formed on 19 March 1962 with its headquarters at Rani Kuthee, Calcutta (now Kolkata). Calcutta was considered an inappropriate location for the Central Air Command Headquarters and it was relocated to Allahabad in February 1966.[1]
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, CAC English Electric Canberras carried out 163 bombing and 33 close air support sorties against Pakistani forces, and raided Pakistan Air Force airbases at Mauripur, Multan, Sargodha, Peshawar, 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 Chakras 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, destroying about 60% of Pakistan's oil reserves.[2]
On 3 November 1988, during the 1988 Maldives coup d'état, Indian troops were airlifted to Maldives in two CAC Ilyushin Il-76s 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.[2]
In operation "Safed Sagar" during the Kargil war in 1999, CAC played a prominent role by successfully carrying out attacks on enemy bases.[2]
The IAF's first exercise with a foreign air force (Garud) took place with the French Air Force 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, Royal Air Force, the Singapore Air Force and South African Air Force at Gwalior and Agra.[2]
Organization
Squadrons include:
| Squadron | Base | Equipment | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 106 Squadron IAF | Agra Air Force Station | Avro 748M | No. 4 Wing IAF |
| No. 8 Squadron IAF | Bareilly Air Force Station | Su-30MKI | No. 15 Wing IAF |
| No. 24 Squadron IAF | Bareilly Air Force Station | Su-30MKI | No. 15 Wing IAF |
| No. 111 Helicopter Unit, IAF | Bareilly Air Force Station | HAL Dhruv | No. 15 Wing IAF |
| No. 16 Squadron IAF | Gorakhpur Air Force Station | SEPECAT Jaguar IS | No. 17 Wing IAF |
| No. 27 Squadron IAF | Gorakhpur Air Force Station | SEPECAT Jaguar IS | No. 17 Wing IAF |
| No. 105 Helicopter Unit, IAF | Gorakhpur Air Force Station | Mi-17V-5 | No. 17 Wing IAF |
| No. 1 Squadron IAF | Maharajpur Air Force Station | Mirage-2000H | No. 40 Wing IAF |
| No. 7 Squadron IAF | Maharajpur Air Force Station | Mirage-2000H | No. 40 Wing IAF |
| No. 9 Squadron IAF | Maharajpur Air Force Station | Mirage-2000 | No. 40 Wing IAF |
| TACDE | Maharajpur Air Force Station | Su-30 MKI, Dassault Mirage 2000 | No. 40 Wing IAF |
Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief
| Rank | Name | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Vice Marshal | Shivdev Singh | 10 June 1963[3] | 4 March 1966 |
| Kundan Lal Sondhi | 5 March 1966[3] | 31 December 1966 | |
| Hari Chand Dewan | 1 January 1967[3] | 28 March 1968 | |
| Hrushikesh Moolgavkar | 29 March 1968[3] | 31 March 1971 | |
| Maurice Barker | 1 April 1971[3] | 15 June 1972 | |
| Bandi Sreeramulu Krishnarao | 16 June 1972[3] | 25 June 1972 | |
| Air Marshal | 26 June 1972[3] | 26 June 1974 | |
| Idris Hasan Latif | 27 June 1974[3] | 29 February 1976 | |
| George Kanishtkumar John | 1 March 1976[3] | 31 January 1977 | |
| Gian Dev Sharma | 1 February 1977[3] | 31 December 1978 | |
| Trilochan Singh Brar | 10 February 1979[3] | 20 September 1981 | |
| Balwant Wickram Chauhan | 21 September 1981[3] | 31 December 1983 | |
| Denis Anthony Lafontaine | 1 January 1984[3] | 31 October 1984 | |
| Ripu Daman Sahni | 6 November 1984[3] | 31 May 1986 | |
| Johney William Greene | 1 June 1986[3] | 31 March 1987 | |
| Nirmal Chandra Suri | 1 April 1987[3] | 29 February 1988 | |
| Mohinder Singh Bawa | 1 March 1988[3] | 31 December 1990 | |
| Swaroop Krishna Kaul | 11 February 1991[3] | 30 April 1992 | |
| Pondicherry Jayarao Jayakumar | 1 May 1992[3] | 28 February 1993 | |
| Naresh Kumar | 1 March 1993[3] | 31 May 1995 | |
| Dev Nath Rathore | 1 June 1995[3] | 30 June 1996 | |
| Vinod Patney | 1 July 1996[3] | 31 March 1997 | |
| Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy | 1 April 1997[3] | 30 November 1997 | |
| Vinod Kumar Bhatia | 1 December 1997[3] | 31 October 1999 | |
| Vinod Patney | 1 November 1999[3] | 31 July 2000 | |
| Vinod Kumar Verma | 1 August 2000[3] | 30 April 2002 | |
| Shashindra Pal Tyagi | 1 May 2002[3] | 31 January 2003 | |
| Brijendra Mohan Bali | 1 February 2003[3] | 31 March 2004 | |
| Raghu Rajan | 1 April 2004[3] | 30 April 2005 | |
| Jaspal Singh Gujral | 1 May 2005[3] | 31 October 2006 | |
| Pradeep Vasant Naik | 1 November 2006[3] | 31 December 2007 | |
| Packiam Paul Rajkumar | 1 January 2008[3] | 30 June 2009 | |
| Gurdip Singh Kochar | 1 July 2009[3] | 31 October 2011 | |
| Arup Raha | 1 November 2011[3] | 31 May 2012 | |
| Jasvinder Chauhan | 1 June 2012[3] | 31 July 2014 | |
| Kulwant Singh Gill | 1 August 2014[3] | 31 December 2015 | |
| Shyam Bihari Prasad Sinha | 1 January 2016[3] | 31 December 2018 | |
| Rajesh Kumar | 1 January 2019[3] | 31 January 2021 | |
| Amit Tiwari | 1 February 2021[3] | 31 May 2021 | |
| Richard John Duckworth | 1 July 2021[3] | 30 June 2022 | |
| Amar Preet Singh | 1 July 2022[4][3] | 31 January 2023 | |
| Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor | 1 February 2023[4][3] | Incumbent |
Operations
The CAC mainly patrols the North Central part of India. It has airbases at Agra, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Gwalior and Prayagraj and some units are located at Bihta, Darbhanga, Bakshi-ka-Talab, Nagpur, Kanpur, Nainital, Memaura and Varanasi.[2]
The CAC operates fixed-wing aircraft such as the Mirage 2000, Antonov An-32, Ilyushin Il-76 and Dornier 228; and helicopters such as the Mil Mi-8, Mil Mi-17 and Mil Mi-26.[citation needed]