South Western Air Command

South Western Air Command
Indian Air Force
Emblem of the South Western Air Command
Founded23 July 1980
CountryIndia
BranchIndian Air Force
TypeOperational Air Command
RoleAir Defence, Maritime strike role.
HeadquartersGandhinagar
MottosSanskrit: Jai Shree Varte Veeramh
Victory embraces the brave
EngagementsAtlantique incident, Bhuj earthquake relief, 2001, Gujarat flood relief, 2005
Commanders
Air Officer Commanding-in-ChiefAir Marshal Tejinder Singh, AVSM, VM

The South Western Air Command (SWAC) is one of the five operational commands of the Indian Air Force, headquartered in Gandhinagar. It was raised in Jodhpur in July 1980 from the No.1 Operations Group of the Western Air Command. Its operations sector includes most of Rajasthan, through Gujarat and Saurashtra, as far south as Kutch and Pune. The SWAC moved to its current headquarters in Gandhinagar in May 1998, and incorporates the Indian airbases of Bhuj, Jaisalmer, Phalodi, Naliya, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Uttarlai/Barmer and Pune. It controls air operations in the south western air sector, which includes most of Rajasthan, and south through Gujarat to Saurashtra, and Kutch to Pune. It also operates the forward airbases at Vadodara, Nal and Suratgarh. The SWAC's role has historically been largely of air defence, although it has been reported to have incorporated a strike profile.

Organisation

Squadrons include:

Squadron Base Equipment Notes
No. 20 Squadron IAF Lohegaon Air Force Station Su-30MKI No. 2 Wing
No. 30 Squadron IAF Lohegaon Air Force Station Su-30MKI No. 2 Wing
No. 15 Squadron IAF Bhuj Air Force Station Su-30 MKI No. 27 Wing
No. 31 Squadron IAF Jodhpur Air Force Station Su-30 MKI No.32 Wing
No. 107 Helicopter Unit, IAF Jodhpur Air Force Station Mi-8 No. 32 Wing
No. 116 Helicopter Unit, IAF Jodhpur Air Force Station HAL Chetak No. 32 Wing
No. 119 Helicopter Unit, IAF Jodhpur Air Force Station Mi-8 No. 32 Wing
No. 143 Helicopter Unit, IAF Jodhpur Air Force Station HAL Prachand
No. 6 Squadron IAF Jamnagar Air Force Station JaguarIS/IM/IB No. 33 Wing
No. 28 Squadron IAF Jamnagar Air Force Station Mig 29 No.33 Wing
No. 141 SSS Flight, IAF Jamnagar Air Force Station HAL Chetak No. 33 Wing IAF
No. 18 Squadron IAF[1] Naliya Air Force Station HAL Tejas No. 49 Wing
No. 23 Squadron IAF Suratgarh Air Force Station Mig-21 No. 35 Wing IAF
No. 104 Helicopter Squadron, IAF Suratgarh Air Force Station Mi-35 No. 35 Wing
No. 11 Squadron IAF Vadodara Air Force Station Airbus C295 No. 36 Wing
No. 44 Squadron IAF Nagpur Air Force Station Il-76MD No. 44 Wing
No. 4 Squadron IAF Uttarlai Air Force Station Su-30 MKI No. 5 FBSU

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief South Western Air Command
S.No Rank Name Assumed office Left office References
1 Air Marshal Jagdish Raj Bhasin 23 July 1980 30 June 1983 [2]
2 Chandra Kant Viswanath Gole 1 July 1983 31 October 1984 [2]
3 Subramaniam Raghavendran 1 November 1984 6 January 1986 [2]
4 Prem Pal Singh 8 January 1986 28 February 1987 [2]
5 Surendra Kumar Mehra 1 March 1987 31 July 1988 [2]
6 Partha Kumar Dey 1 August 1988 31 March 1992 [2]
7 Brijesh Dhar Jayal 1 April 1992 30 September 1993 [2]
8 Satish Kumar Sareen 6 October 1993 3 June 1994 [2]
9 Kodendera Cariappa Cariappa 6 June 1994 31 January 1996 [2]
10 Sharadkumar Ramakrishna Deshpande 1 February 1996 30 November 1997 [2]
11 Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy 1 December 1997 31 October 1999 [2]
12 Vinod Kumar Bhatia 1 November 1999 31 July 2001 [2]
13 Michael McMahon 1 August 2001 31 January 2003 [2]
14 Shashindra Pal Tyagi 1 February 2003 14 November 2003 [2]
15 Adi Rustomji Ghandhi 17 November 2003 31 June 2004 [2]
16 Satish Kumar Jain 12 July 2004 28 February 2006 [2]
17 Pramod Kumar Mehra 1 March 2006 30 April 2007 [2]
18 Kanwar Dalinderjit Singh 1 May 2007 30 September 2009 [2]
19 Paramjit Singh Bhangu 1 October 2009 31 December 2010 [2]
20 Anjan Kumar Gogoi 1 January 2011 28 February 2013 [2]
21 Daljit Singh 1 March 2013 31 October 2014 [2]
22 Birender Singh Dhanoa 1 November 2014 31 May 2015 [2]
23 Ravinder Kumar Dhir 1 June 2015 30 September 2018 [3]
24 Harjit Singh Arora 1 October 2018 30 September 2019 [4]
25 Surendra Kumar Ghotia 1 October 2019 30 April 2021 [5]
26 Sandeep Singh 1 May 2021 30 September 2021 [6]
27 Vikram Singh 1 October 2021 30 April 2023 [7]
28 Narmdeshwar Tiwari 1 May 2023 30 April 2025 [8]
29 Nagesh Kapoor 1 May 2025 31 December 2025 [9]
30 Tejinder Singh 1 January 2026 Incumbent [10]

References

  1. ^ Thomas, Wilson (27 May 2020). "IAF operationalises second LCA squadron, inducts first LCA Tejas in FOC standard". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "South Western Air Command - BRF". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Air Marshal R K Dhir takes over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South-Western Air Command". The Economic Times. 14 July 2018. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  4. ^ "Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora AVSM takes over Command as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief South Western Air Command" (Press release). 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  5. ^ "Air Marshal SK Ghotia to take over as AOC-in-C South Western Air Command". ANI News. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  6. ^ "Air Marshal Sandeep Singh takes charge as chief of South Western Air Command". The Indian Express. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  7. ^ "Air Marshal Vikram Singh takes charge at South Western Air Command". The Indian Express. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  8. ^ PTI (1 May 2023). "Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari takes charge as AOC-in-C of South Western Command". ThePrint. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  9. ^ PTI (1 May 2025). "Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor takes charge as AOC-in-C of South Western Air Command". ThePrint. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  10. ^ "AIR MARSHAL TEJINDER SINGH TAKES OVER AS AIR OFFICER COMMANDING-IN-CHIEF SOUTH WESTERN AIR COMMAND, INDIAN AIR FORCE". Press Information Bureau. 1 January 2026.


allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Western_Air_Command,_Indian_Air_Force