India / Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman awarded Vir Chakra for shooting down Pak jet

New Delhi: Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet during a dogfight over the Line of Control (LoC) on February 27, 2019, was on Monday awarded the Vir Chakra by President Ram Nath Kovind at an investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Vir Chakra is India’s third highest wartime gallantry award after Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra.

Among other gallantry awards presented by Kovind included a Kirti Chakra awarded posthumously to Sapper Prakash Jadhav for gallantry in a counterinsurgency operation in Kashmir three years ago.

Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal and Naib Subedar Sombir were posthumously awarded Shaurya Chakra.

Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra are the country’s second and third highest peacetime gallantry awards after Ashok Chakra.

Abhinandan’s citation read, “Displaying exceptional air combat acumen and knowledge of the enemy’s tactics, Abhinandan scanned the low-altitude airspace with his airborne intercept (AI) radar and picked up an enemy aircraft that was flying low to ambush the Indian fighter interceptor aircraft… Abhinandan alerted the other formation pilots towards this surprise threat.”

He was then a wing commander and promoted to the rank of group captain earlier this month. An Indian Air Force (IAF) group captain is equivalent to an army colonel.

The dogfight in which Abhinandan was involved took place a day after the IAF’s Mirage-2000s struck targets in Pakistan’s Balakot in response to the Pulwama suicide attack in Kashmir in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men were killed on February 14, 2019.

Abhinandan Varthaman, then 35, scripted military aviation history by downing an F-16, seconds before his own MiG-21 Bison was hit by a missile, forcing him to eject.

Experts had hailed it as the first ever kill of an F-16 by a MiG-21 Bison - fighter jets of two different generations.

He was captured after he bailed out of his aircraft, and Pakistan returned him to India on March 1, 2019, after holding him captive for almost 60 hours.

His Vir Chakra was announced on Independence Day in 2019. His citation said he courageously engaged the Pakistani aircraft package despite its “immense numerical and technological superiority”, and his aggressive manoeuvres forced the enemy aircraft into tactical chaos.

The citation said, “Despite being captured by the enemy, he continued to display exceptional resolve in dealing with the adversary in a stoic, brave and dignified manner till he was repatriated on March 1, 2019.”

In February 2019, Abhinandan Varthaman was posted with a MiG-21 Bison squadron and was on “operational readiness platform” duty at an air force station Srinagar when a large Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft package was detected heading towards the LoC.

The hostile jets were armed with advanced beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missiles and modern air-to-ground standoff weapons.

Abhinandan was scrambled to intercept the package five minutes after it was detected.

“He then consolidated the riposte, by gathering his wingman in an offensive formation against the hostile Pakistani aircraft now dropping weapons on Indian Army positions. This audacious and aggressive manoeuvre forced the enemy aircraft into tactical chaos,” it further said.

The citation said the wing commander then pursued a retreating enemy fighter bomber aircraft and in the ensuing aerial combat, shot down an F-16. “However, in the melee, one of the enemy aircraft fired multiple advanced BVR missiles, one of which hit his aircraft forcing him to eject in enemy territory.”

On February 26, IAF’s Mirages hit three targets in Balakot with five Israeli-origin Spice 2000 bombs with penetrator warheads that allowed them to pierce through the rooftops before exploding inside to cause maximum damage.