During the golden jubilee year of the IAF in 1982, hand picked fighter pilots from various squadrons formed an aerobatic team for the IAF called ‘The Thunderbolts’. This Team enjoyed a glorious innings of nearly a decade. It gave its last public display in 1989.

In early 1996, serious planning began for Aero India 96, the first major air show and aviation trade event ever hosted in India. The organisers’ initial intention was to invite an aerobatic team from overseas. Some senior IAF officers were however confident that, as the fourth largest air force in the world, the IAF would be able to field it’s own team! This formed the genesis of the present team. THE SURYAKIRAN

In May 1996, then Wing Commander Kuldeep Malik, who as a Flight Lieutenant had been a member of the 'Thunderbolts', was serving as a DS at the Defence Services Staff College. He was posted to Bidar, with instructions to raise a new aerobatic team, in the few remaining months till Aero India 96. The pioneer Team members were: Wg Commander K Malik VM VSM, Sqn Ldr A K Murgai, Sqn Ldr V K Khorana, Sqn Ldr S Prabhakaran, Flt Lt A R Gore, Flt Lt R K Obheroi, Flt Lt N Kanitkar, Flt Lt P K Vohra, Flt Lt Subramaniam - The engineering officer, Flt Lt D C Pandey - ATC officer

As the team started getting its act together, there were lengthy discussions about the name and the size of the team. After a lot of deliberation an Indian name "Suryakiran" meaning, "rays of the sun" was chosen. Initially it was mandated to be a six aircraft Team. There were many who were sceptical about the ability of the Kiran Mk II to serve as a platform for a full nine-aircraft team, since it lacked the required thrust to weight ratio like the Hunter ac. Starting with four and five aircraft formations, the team gradually built up to the use of seven. "Once you’ve done it with seven, nine, is just one small step ahead!" Wg Cdr Malik reminisced later.

The Teething Problems. The side-by-side seating cockpit of the Kiran Mk II ac imposed one constraint. Those members flying on the left of the leader had to fly from the right seat. However, the master seat of the ac was the left seat. Therefore, per force these pilots had to fly dual with another pilot sitting on the left seat to operate some of the controls like the undercarriage, flaps, radio set and the canopy. This fact saw the posting in of three young officers Flt Lt Tanmay Sharma, Flt Lt K Prem Kumar and Flt Lt K Dubey.

During these early months the team flew overtime, graduating from doing aerobatics in 4-ac box formation to 6 ac in shockwave formation. To quote from the SKAT diary, "There were some 3 ac left heavy and right heavy echelon formations practised before the first six aircraft formation took wings on 08 Aug 96" and "There were two manoeuvre’s which we finally managed to get through with a little bit of trouble. The first was the Goblet roll and the other the Tango roll – the latter incidentally was a first for the aerobatic teams history because even their predecessors the famed ‘Thunderbolts’ did not do this manoeuvre."

Behind the scene Wing Commander Malik and his AOC-in-C were shown two sample aircraft painted in different schemes, one in "post-box red" and the other in "day-glo orange". Though they preferred the red scheme, they were over-ruled by the CAS of the time, Air Chief Marshal S. K. Sareen, who said the day-glo orange scheme would stand out better. Looking back today, the then CAS made the right decision.

The First Display Season. The colour scheme having been decided and a smoke mod approved, slowly but surely aircraft were being ferried in from Sulur and by mid August the team had a full compliment of eight aircraft. Soon came the first tasking for SKAT- a six aircraft horizontal display for the golden jubilee celebration of AFAC at Coimbatore. On a clear morning on 15 Sep 96 the team went public for the first time. It was a flawless display that was applauded by all those who witnessed it.

An interesting episode in the annals of the Suryakirans is as follows. The Team was to proceed to Hindon to give its first aerobatic display over Palam, Delhi on the occasion of AF day, 08 Oct 96. The team had been practising towards a six aircraft display all the while. Then came the news that the display at Palam would be a 4 aircraft display. The outers No. 5 and No. 6 who had been practising their hearts out were disappointed. The Team started concentrating on 4 ac profiles with the Nos. 5 and No. 6 taxing out as stand by aircraft. A few days prior to the planned ferry out to Hindon the AOC-in-C, HQ TC was to witness a 4-ac display before the team proceeded up North. On the fateful morning four aircraft with two standbys taxied out while the C-in-C watched. Then came a voice on R/T, that of the AOC, asking if the team could do a six aircraft display. The Nos. 5 and No.6 jumped at the opportunity and an hour later their fate was decided and the team was cleared for a six aircraft display. Come 08 Oct 96, and the team performed their first six aircraft aerobatic display at Palam. It is worth a mention that the present Commanding Officer Wg Cdr S Prabhakaran was a part of this inaugural Team.

Going from Strength to Strength. In 1998, Wg Cdr Malik handed over the mantle of the team to late Wg Cdr Murgai, under whom the team upgraded to nine aircraft status. Considering the fact that the team had been in existence for only two years, this was no mere achievement. The team first displayed a formation of nine aircraft during the Independence Day flypast over Red Fort on 15 Aug 98. The first nine aircraft aerobatic display was to follow soon at Palam on 08 Oct 1998.

Wg Cdr A Tiwari was designated the Team Leader in May 1999. The team, still in its third year had already started making an impression on the spectators and media. In Nov 99 "Red Arrows", the aerobatic team of the RAF, was transiting through India enroute to Australia. The Suryakiran team was at Hindon to interact with them and a lucky few managed a sortie in the Hawk. Not much later the French aerobatic team, ‘Patrouille de France’ was at Pune and once again the two teams met and flew some sorties in the Alpha jet. A desire for progress saw inclusion of the Synchro Sequence in the nine aircraft sequence displayed by the team. This added more colour and gusto into the displays. The team first displayed the synchro sequence during the CGP at AFA in Jun 2000.

Early 2001 saw the team in full force during Aero India 2001 and International Fleet Review at Mumbai. Not much later in March the team headed down South, to Sri Lanka for their maiden trip abroad. The occasion was the 50th Anniversary of the Sri Lankan Air Force. SKAT did the country proud by putting up four exciting displays.

The reins of the team were handed over to the present CO, Wg Cdr S Prabhakaran in May 2002. The Team leader's status, meanwhile, had been upgraded to that of a Commanding Officer at par with CO's of fighter Sqns of the IAF. During the prestigious Aero India 2003 show, the Team undertook no less than nine displays in five days. Of the thousands who came to witness the spectacular airshow it was common to hear people saying "We’ve come to see the Suryakirans only!" In July 2003 the Team achieved the rare feat of performing a full nine aircraft vertical display with synchro over the Dal Lake, Srinagar. This was no easy task considering that Srinagar is located at an elevation of 5436 ft. There were however, bigger things to come soon.

THE TOUR OF SOUTH EAST ASIA

Trailing the Indian tricolour, the Suryakiran unfurled the largest Indian flag ever seen over the skies of S.E Asia. The Team embarked on a tour of S.E Asian countries in the months of Feb-Mar 2004. Ferrying and displaying across four countries, the Team reached its final destination Singapore on 20 Feb 04 to take part in its first major international air show abroad, namely the Asian Aerospace 2004.

Detailed planning of the tour started almost six months in advance as this was probably the first such major IAF contingent going abroad for over a month’s tour. The Team and support staff included nearly a hundred personnel, twelve fighter-trainer aircraft and two support transport aircraft. A month before leaving everyone was in overdrive, standardization was the buzzword - the overalls, uniforms, patches, eveningwear and even haircuts! There was the handling of the exchange of currency and converting rupees into US Dollars, Singapore Dollars, Thai Bahts, Malaysian Ringitts and Burmese Kyats! It was no mean task flying a distance of over 17,000 Km, transiting through 10 foreign airbases. Nearly 8-10 crystallization cards, with over 150 frequencies was required to see the Team through the 20 odd hops to reach Singapore.

One of the more demanding tasks was that of planning the route, getting the necessary airfield information after having found airfields in Myanmar, which were not listed by Jeppesen! To cite an example, sitting pretty in Guwahati a day before crossing the International border into Myanmar, a comparison of notes with the transport support crew sent all plans into a spin. Whereas the transport crew was planning to file their flight plan for Mandalay – ICAO designation VYCZ, SKAT was cleared for Mandalay - ICAO designation VYMD! Notes were exchanged and compared. Mandalay VYMD was not even marked on the map! Finally all was sorted out and both SKAT as well as the transport support crew was heading for the same destination!

Somewhere in the backdrop of all this was the all-important flying. A new profile called the Singapore profile had to be put together. The bird flu disease in SE Asia almost got the tour sabotaged. Finally before the Team’s departure there were visits by the higher echelons and lots of advice of what was expected and the do’s and dont’s.

The Team. Under the Commanding Officer of the Team, Wg Commander Sreekumar Prabhakaran the tour commenced on 04 Feb from Bidar (Karnataka) where the team is based. The Team members and the positions they fly were as follows: - Wg Cdr S Prabhakaran Suryakiran-1, Sqn Ldr MK Singh, Suryakiran-2, Sqn Ldr M Yadav Suryakiran-3, Sqn Ldr A Gulrajani Suryakiran-4, Sqn Ldr K Shah Suryakiran-5, Sqn Ldr P Singh Suryakiran-6, Sqn Ldr P Arya Suryakiran-7, Sqn Ldr S Khajuria Suryakiran-8, Sqn Ldr S Sethi Suryakiran-9, Sqn Ldr K Ramesh St by (Left), Sqn Ldr AR Phadke U/T, Sqn Ldr J Cruz U/T, Sqn Ldr S Pasricha U/T, Flt Lt R V Singh STO, Flt Lt B Mehra Adm Offr, Flt Lt S Singh Eng Offr

THE TEAM

TOP ROW (L-R) F/L RV SINGH, S/L K RAMESH, S/L S SETHI, WG CDR S PRABHAKARAN, S/L M YADAV, S/L MK SINGH, S/L A GULRAJANI

BOTTOM ROW (L-R) S/L S PASRICHA, F/L SATBIR, F/L B MEHRA, S/L J CRUZ, S/L A PHADKE, S/L P ARYA, S/L P SINGH, S/L K SHAH, S/L S KHAJURIA.

CONCLUSION

The participation of SKAT in a major international airshow like Asian Aerospace 2004 was truly a historic event for the IAF. All the ferries and displays were executed as planned without a single major snag or dropout. This could not have been possible without the team of highly skilled, motivated and professional technicians who had the onerous task of maintaining and servicing the Team’s aircraft.

Inevitably the Suryakiran displays at Bangkok and Singapore drew comparison with other foreign teams who had earlier performed in these countries. It was extremely heartening for the Team members to be told, in no uncertain terms, that their display was second to none! This for a Team less than eight years old and flying a basic jet like the Kiran MkII was no mean achievement.

On 08 Mar 04 the team finally re-entered Indian skies and landed at Kumbhigram. That such a large detachment had accomplished its mission without a hitch, be it in terms of ac serviceability, operational hang-ups or admin problems speaks volumes not only about the Team, but also the countless, unseen people at Air Force Station Bidar, HQ Training Command and at Air HQ. It could be achieved only because all concerned were willing to work that extra hour, walk that extra step and more importantly do it willingly! Each and every one of them realised what was at stake for the IAF and the country.

There was however another task for the Team and they had to race further west to Jaisalmer to participate in the Maha Vayu Shakti 04. But that, however, is a different story and will be covered some other day.

JAI HIND!

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