From the IAF Vault: Story of IAF's own 'Top Gun' academy and its 'Mavericks'

The history of air combat is as old as aircraft themselves. Given its shared history, the Indian Air Force of the 1940 and 1950s looked to the Royal Air Force for air combat tactics and training, but only a handful of pilots could be so trained with no institutional transfer and continuity of knowledge being available

In the period 1950-52, the IAF sent four pilots to Australia to undergo the Pilot Attack Instructors course with the Royal Australian Air Force. A few were sent to the United Kingdom till the mid-1950s. The plan was for these pilots to impart their knowledge to squadron pilots of the IAF.

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In tandem, the IAF began to scout for an A-to-G range. In 1950, Maharajpur, Jamnagar, Bhopal, Amarda Road and Cholavaran were considered. Jamnagar was selected and named Armament Training Wing (ATW), where an entire squadron would come to receive training. 

The PAI school was set up in 1956. Wing Commander GD 'Nobby' Clarke, who had trained with the RAAF in 1951, spent a large part of the next decade instructing at the school, including as Commanding Officer & later as Chief Instructor of the ATW, which then comprised the PAI flight, squadron training flights and the target-towing flights.

The first desi Top Guns graduated with the No 1 PAI Course in April 1958. A total of 24 courses were held between 1958-70, training nearly 200 pilots (including three future chiefs). While PAI trained with Air-to-Ground weapon delivery, Air-to-Air Combat and Tactics were still being learnt overseas.

For tactics development and air-air combat, the IAF still relied on sending pilots to the United Kingdom for Day Fighter Leader Course (DFL) on the Hunter aircraft. Several luminaries such as Johnny Greene, Dilbagh Singh and S 'Rags' Raghvendran attended this course and recommended setting up one for the IAF. 

With the UK's review of defence policy in 1957, the focus on conventional warfare was reduced, and the DFL course was stopped. The gun versus missile debate would leave a gaping hole in IAF's ability to train 'Top Guns'. Sporadic attempts were made through the 1960s.

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Rags Raghvendran made similar attempts, but lack of funds and approvals, coupled with the 1962 and 1965 wars, made sure no IAF fighter leader was trained for nearly 15 years, till 1972. But the 1965 war exposed the urgent need for the same.

These efforts received a fillip when Air Chief Marshal PC Lal gave the go-ahead to establish a unit under Dte of Off Operations Group Captain Aubrey Michael, and Squadron Leader Denzil Keelor planned and established this setup. Aubrey was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal for his efforts, and Keelor commanded Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment later, retiring as Air Marshal.

This Unit, the Tactics and Combat Development and Training Squadron (TCDTS), was set up with a flight of each of the best combat aircraft in the IAF then -- the MiG-21 and the Su-7. A total of 211 handpicked officers and men reported to the unit on February 1, 1971. Starting as a one-year experiment, the unit would go on to make history.

The TCDTS moved to Ambala in 1971 and was just getting settled when war clouds began to loom. The TCDTS was given the task of low-level (150-200 m) night strikes on Pakistan Air Force bases. The only challenge was that neither the MiG-21, the Su-7, nor the pilots were equipped or trained for it!

To their credit, the TCDTS delivered night-time raids at major PAF bases, flying 293 sorties through the war. Damage to infrastructure may have been repairable, but the impact on the PAF morale and tactics was undeniable.

The graduates earned a patch with a MiG-21 (Air Defence) and Su-7 (Ground attack), separated by a flash for controllers. The background colours signify day and night. The motto -- 'Learn to lead, Lead to fight' -- was inspired by Empire Test Pilots' School in the United Kingdom. The official crest was designed by then Commandant MS Bawa in 1976.

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In May 1972, Wing Commander A Sridharan took charge. During his two-year tenure, the unit was renamed Tactics and Combat Development and Training Establishment or TACDE and moved to Jamnagar. It extensively developed tactics and conducted the first Fighter Combat Leader course.

In the hectic period of 1972-1974, staff at TACDE laid out flying techniques, tactics, and briefing notes and experimented with combinations of two versus two, two versus four, 10 aircraft in mixed formation flying, strike missions -- nearly rewriting aircraft and service manuals and testing the limits of aircraft.

The first Fighter Combat Leader course began in May 1973. It had three pilots, each from MiGs and Sukhois and were all Flight Commanders of their own squadrons and qualified Pilot Attack Instructors. The IAF had chosen its best! Squadron Leader AY Tipnis (later Chief of Air Staff) won the trophy as the best fighter leader of the first course.

In June 1982, the MiG-21FL and Su-7 were phased out. The MiG-21Bis and MiG-21M/MF were inducted at TACDE, leading to further refinements of techniques and syllabi. The MiG-21 would remain the only aircraft at TACDE for the next 12 years. 

Between 1989-97, the TACDE evolved rapidly. The Fighter Strike Leader and Master Fighter Controller courses were added in 1989. Missile (SAGW) combat crew were integrated. In 1994, the MiG-27 replaced the MiG-21M; in 1997, the Helicopter Combat Leader (HCL) course was added.

In 2000, TACDE moved out of Jamnagar after 28 years to Gwalior. The Su-30 replaced the MiG-27 in 2010, and earlier this year, the MiG-21 was phased out of TACDE after 50 years, almost at the same time as TACDE was celebrating its golden jubilee. Over 500 pilots and over 100 controllers had graduated by the turn of the century. A handful of them had been posted back to TACDE as Directing Staff.

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The author is a finance professional, currently Managing Director at a Private Equity Firm, and hails from a military family. He is deeply interested in Indian aviation history and has regularly contributed across platforms on Indian Air Force history. You can check out his work on Twitter: @AnchitGupta9