Ambala Air Force Station

The Ambala Air Force Station is an Air Force base situated north of the urban Ambala Cantt area in Haryana, India. The Ambala Air Force Station is the home to the first batch of advance multirole fighter jet Dassault Rafales that have been inducted to Indian Air Force.[2]

Ambala Air Force Station


अंबाला वायु सेना छावनी
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OwnerIndian Air Force
OperatorWestern Air Command
ServesAmbala Cantonment
LocationAmbala, Haryana
OccupantsNo. 14 Squadron IAF
No. 5 Squadron IAF
No. 17 Squadron IAF
Time zoneIST (UTC+05:30)
Elevation AMSL275.2 m / 900 ft
Coordinates30°22′15″N 76°49′04″E
Map
VIAM
Location of airport in India
VIAM
VIAM (India)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 9,224 2,811 Concrete / Asphalt
N/A 5,808 1,770 Concrete / Asphalt

History
See also: Airports in Haryana, Aviation history of Haryana, Indian Air Force history, Civil Aviation History of India, World Aviation History, Aviation in India, and Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation

In 1919, first airstrip was built in Haryana when Ambala Air Force Station was established following the independence of India. It is also the home to the SEPECAT Jaguar of No. 5 Squadron IAF and No. 14 Squadron IAF, and aging MiG-21bis of No. 21 Squadron IAF.

Ambala Air Force Base was attacked by the Pakistani Air Force in both the 1965 and 1971 wars. In 1965, the Pakistanis struck Ambala and reportedly destroyed some 25 Indian planes just after they had returned from missions (the PAF did not initially claimed any IAF aircraft during the attack on Ambala due to non-availability of damage in night bombing).[3]

In 1919, a Flying Instruction School (FIS) was formed here. In 1947, FIS Ambala was moved to Tambaram near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, at Tambaram Air Force Station.

Ambala air force station, considered one of the most strategically located bases of the IAF. The Indo-Pak border is around 220 km from there.

The Mirage fighters, that were used for the air strike, which happened on Feb 26, 2019 (in wake of Pulwama terror attack) took off from the Ambala air base, and the whole operation took 30 minutes.[4]

In the Covid Peroid McHS Rossii Flew to Ambala from Moscow via Baku and Jodhpur on there IL-76 so did Silk Way Airlines from Chateauroux via Delhi and Sharjah on there IL-76, Aviacon Zitotrans from Chateauroux via Aqaba and Delhi on there IL-76 and Russian Air Force via Baku on there AN-124

Assets

In 2018–19, Ambala Airforce station currently houses a squadron of SEPECAT Jaguar. From May 2020, the IAF will house the first batch of 36 latest Dassault Rafale fighter jets at Ambala Air Force Station and Hasimara Air Force Station.[5]

See also

References
  1. World Airport Codes.
  2. "Five Rafale jets leave for India: What happens next".
  3. "Ambala Airbase". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  4. "'Wait For Our Response,' Says Pak Army After India's Air Strikes". The Quint. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  5. "News18 Newsletter | All We Know So Far About India's Surgical Strike 2.0 on Pakistan". News18. Retrieved 26 February 2019.


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