Squadron Leader Shamsher Pathania, call sign ‘Patty,’ a top fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force, joins forces with other elite aviators to establish a special unit called ‘Air Dragons.’ ‘Patty,’ piloting a Su-30MKI, skillfully evades a missile lock from an F-16 by executing the daring ‘cobra manoeuvre,’ subjecting himself to high g-forces. This intense combat sequence is from Hrithik Roshan’s ‘Fighter,’ but such exceptional skills are cultivated at the Indian Air Force’s Tactics and Combat Development Establishment (TACDE), where aviators are trained to be the “best of the best.”

TACDE ( pronounced as ‘Tack-dee’) stands as India’s equivalent of the renowned ‘Top Gun’ school, focusing on training the top 1 per cent of the air force in aerial combat and tactical procedures to produce elite fighter pilots and ground staff. In contrast to the U.S. Navy’s Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Course, known as TOP GUN, which began in a California parking lot, TACDE originated as a test program to achieve self-reliance in the Indian Air Force’s combat doctrine.

Anchit Gupta, an award-winning Air Force historian, extensively details the history of TACDE. The special unit was established in February 1971, ten months before the Indo-Pak war, as the Tactical and Combat Development and Training Squadron (T&CD&TS) for combat pilots, fighter controllers, and operators of guided weapons and platforms in Adampur, Punjab. It was later renamed TACDE in 1972 and had the privilege of serving during the 1971 war.

Indian Aviators At ‘TOP GUN’ School

The Indian Air Force, founded on October 8, 1932, with six Royal Air Force-trained pilots, 19 Havai Sepoys (air soldiers), and four Westland Wapiti IIA aircraft, formed the No. 1 Squadron. Indian pilots served during World War II, and post-independence, the IAF recognized the need to train its pilots in aerial combat tactics and training.

Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Indian Air Force share a common history, and a few selected Indian aviators were sent to the Central Fighter Establishment (CFE) at West Raynham, Norfolk, established in 1945 to train pilots in fighter tactics. The Air Fighter Training Unit (AFTU) in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, was another school where pilots were trained in leadership skills and aerial combat against the Japanese during world war 2.

Three IAF officers – MK Janjua, Shiv Dev Singh, and BS Dastur – became the first Indians to attend the AFT course at Amrada. In 1945, Ranjan Dutt was one of the first Indians selected for the Day Fighter Leaders’ School (DFLS), writes Mr Gupta.

The CFE acted as a ‘think tank’ for the RAF, advising on combat doctrine, with DFLS considered an early ‘TOP GUN’ outfit.

Establishing TACDE

The precursor to TACDE included the Pilot Attack Instructors (PAI) Course, which trained pilots in air-to-ground attack. Former Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi, who underwent the PAI course, mentioned on the Blue Skies Podcast that “PAI was the predecessor to TACDE, focusing not only on weapons but also on teaching”. He was the youngest PAI in IAF’s history. The course trained pilots with air-to-ground weapons delivery, while aerial combat tactics were taught overseas, such as at CFE.

Anchit Gupta documents that Dilbagh Singh, former Air Force Chief, along with Air Marshal Johnny Greene and Air Marshal Ragvendran, all alumni of DFLS, recommended establishing a similar school in India after the DFLS was shut down. An ad hoc course was established, later evolving into TACDE.

On February 1, 1971, T&CD&TS was established under the command of Wing Commander AK Mukherjee at Adampur with MiG-21s and Su-7s in their fleet. In December, the unit saw action and conducted counter-air missions, interdictions, and close-air support.

“I Am Glory To The Glorious”

The establishment of TACDE came at a time when the Indian Air Force learnt some hard lessons during the 1965 war on air-ground coordination, offensive strategy and high attrition rate. The IAF leadership worked on evolving its tactics like low-level flying as opposed to combat at 40,000 was brought in, response doctrines according to new technology were implemented and schools like TACDE gave IAF squadrons top aviators and Air Force offensive on two fronts is a testament. The motto of TACDE is “I am glory to the glorious”.

Four Air Force Chiefs – Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, ACMs SK Mehra, AY Tipnis, and S Krishnaswamy – are TACDE alumni, and the unit received ‘Battle Honours’ from the President in 1995 for its role in the 1971 war. It also received the prestigious President’s Standard in 2009.

TACDE was initially based in Adampur, later moving to Jamnagar in 1972 and subsequently to Gwalior. It possesses MiG-29s, Mirage 2000, and Su-30MKI in its inventory. In January of last year, a TACDE pilot was killed, and two other aviators from the unit were injured in a Su-30, Mirage-2000H crash. Wing Commander Hanumanth Rao Sarathi lost his life in the incident.

Lakshya Chauhan,  the son of an Assistant Commissioner of Police, left home on Monday to attend a wedding with two of his friends in Haryana.

He did not return home the next day and his father, ACP Yashpal Singh, who is posted in Delhi, filed a missing complaint following which the police launched a search operation to find their colleague’s son.

The Delhi Police solved the mystery surrounding the 24-year-old man’s disappearance today. The cops have arrested a man after a week-long search.

The victim, who was a lawyer in Delhi’s Tis Hazari court, took money from one of the accused Vikas Bhardwaj, who was a clerk in the same court. Despite repeated reminders from Bhardwaj, the cop’s son did not return the money, which resulted in an argument between the two.

Vikas conspired to kill Lakshya with his friend Abhishek, an accomplice in the crime, the police said. On January 22, Lakshya was travelling to Bhiwani to attend a relative’s wedding and was joined by Vikas and Abhishek who went to attend the wedding in his car.

While returning late at night, the accused on the pretext of going to the washroom, got down of the car along with the victim near the Munak Canal in Panipat and pushed him

The police said the accused along with two accomplices killed the cop’s son over financial transactions and disposed of the body in the drain in Panipat in neighbouring Haryana almost 40 km from his last known location in Karnal bypass.

During the investigation, the police found the victim’s location in Haryana and a search is on to find his body.

The police have arrested Abhishek and a search is on to arrest the other accused.

The police had registered a case of kidnapping with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person, wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement, a kidnapped or abducted person, the officer said.

Lakshya Chauhan, the 24-year-old son of Delhi Police’s Assistant Commissioner Yashpal Singh, went to Haryana with two others to attend a wedding. By the end of the revelry, he was killed and his body was found in a canal. 

Mr Chauhan, a lawyer at Tis Hazari court, was allegedly pushed into a canal in Haryana by two of his friends, Vikas Bhardwaj and his accomplice Abhishek, over a simmering financial dispute.

The unfolding tragedy began on Monday when Mr Chauhan, accompanied by Bhardwaj and Abhishek, set out to attend a wedding in Sonepat. When he failed to return home the next day, ACP Yashpal Singh filed a missing complaint, triggering a search operation.

As the investigation progressed, it was revealed that the financial dispute between Mr Chauhan and Bhardwaj had escalated, leading to a sinister plan to eliminate him. Bhardwaj alleged that Mr Chauhan had taken a loan and consistently refused to repay, causing tension between the two.

Abhishek, detained after a week-long search, disclosed that Bhardwaj had invited him to the marriage function and shared his grievances about Mr Chauhan. The two hatched a plan to murder the top cop’s son during their return journey.

After leaving the wedding function post-midnight, the trio stopped near the Munak Canal to answer nature’s call. Exploiting the situation, Bhardwaj and Abhishek allegedly pushed Mr Chauhan into the canal and fled the scene in his car.

Upon their return to Delhi, Bhardwaj dropped Abhishek in Narela before disappearing. Abhishek was later apprehended, and based on his statement, a police case was registered. 

The police are intensifying efforts to trace Bhardwaj.