DRAGON FORMATION SCRAMBLE SCRAMBLE SCRAMBLE

This post is by my friend and coursemate, Wg Cdr Uday M Kolhatkar (Retd). This post has been reproduced here with his permission.

DRAGON FORMATION SCRAMBLE SCRAMBLE SCRAMBLE

-Wg Cdr Uday M Kolhatkar (Retd)

 Geopolitical Situation

After the 1st Gulf war 1990 1991 the USA was on a high - it had achieved two great objectives. It had brought down the USSR with assistance from its main ally Pakistan and it had become a powerful force to unite nations against a western perceived common threat during the destruction of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the liberation of Kuwait. Militarily the US was now accepted as top dog.

In our area of operations i.e. South Asia and Indian Ocean there were a large number of USAF aircraft staging through Karachi. These would proceed onwards to Diego Garcia ( a British occupied island in the Indian Ocean). The US used this base for power projection while carrying out various exercises in the Indian Ocean region. There was a power vacuum as India had largely ignored its military build-up in this area and China was still developing its military. The US had deployed multiple types of reconnaissance aircraft in the Indian Ocean, one was the RC135 version. The US and its ally Pakistan were going to utilise these flights of the reconnaissance aircraft Boeing RC135 version to take extensive photography of the Bombay high platforms North and South. It is estimated Almost 4 or more flights of this aircraft were flown to explore the vulnerabilities of the Bombay high platform from air attack until 8 Nov 1993.

High Value Strategic Target and Vulnerability

Bombay High is an important strategic asset which can be destroyed/damaged in International waters. This would send a powerful message to India that it will be subject to further attacks if it does not hand over Kashmir to Pakistan. The USAF aircraft had already flown a few times over Bombay high without air defence identification clearances and it had carried out orbits at higher levels above FL250 and a large number of pictures would have been taken. These were probably sent to Karachi for assessment and analysis. In 1993 we came to know that there's a good chance of an attack on the Bombay high platform. and so the Jaguars of 6 squadron were used to carry out Dummy attacks on many of the platforms so that the SAM defences were activated and tested. AF and Navy had deployed Surface to air missiles on suitable platforms to thwart any attack by PAF/PN. During the year 1993 further identification of targets were carried out with the help of the Jaguar aircraft dummy attack to study vulnerabilities.

The Pakistani Game Plan

The Pakistani game plan was to carry out an attack on Bombay high and thereby deny the platform's oil output to Indian industry. A critical damage to the energy infrastructure would send a powerful International message that there is potential for war in this area if India does not comply with Pakistani demands. Now the government in 1993 we all know was the Congress government led by PM Narasimha Rao, it was a weak government because of internal dissatisfaction due to the events in Ayodhya in Dec 1992 which are well documented. The Black Friday events of March 1993 are known. Op Pawan in Sri Lanka had ended we all know the results, Rajiv Gandhi had been assassinated and Kashmir Hindu Genocide of 1990 was still fresh in the minds of the people… on the economic front India was on the verge of defaulting and bankruptcy was staring us all in the face.

 Decision to Intercept

In 1993 Pune we had some new MiG29 Squadrons they were still training and not yet sea qualified or equipped. Single Engine AD fighters based in Bhuj and Jamnagar were only permitted coasting out to only 50 Nautical miles by day. Bombay High is located 180 Nautical miles off the coast. The only fully equipped and all weather capable fighter bomber available with visual CCM and Guns were from the Maritime Dragons Jaguar squadron. Luckily 6 Sqn had the CO (Wg Cdr DC Kumaria) and FLT Cdr (yours truly) I had carried out a few Air Defence Interceptions from Operation Readiness Platforms (ORPs) during previous tenure in MiG21 Squadrons. We were both fully aware of the signals protocols etc during interceptions.

The US has a powerful military and is unlikely to tolerate a USAF reconnaissance aircraft being intercepted in International waters albeit an ADIZ even though it was without clearance. However the whole escapade of this aircraft was running jitters through service headquarters.. hence this Sunday morning on 08 November 1993 “Dragon formation” was scrambled to intercept… the call was ….. “Dragon scramble scramble scramble” “Initial vector 280 distance 150 NM climb to 15000 ft accelerate to Mach 1.1”

After getting airborne I joined up with Dragon 1 and we started on our initial vector climbing to 15000. However Dragon 1 developed some technical problems and had to abort the mission. I proceeded as a single aircraft mission. I was getting quite a heavy cockpit noise which made me wonder if there was a problem with the seal. However the pressurisation readings were all good so I pressed on with the intercept. The radar controller didn't have much knowledge about Jaguar aircraft performance otherwise he wouldn't have asked me to accelerate to Mach 1.1 at 15000!

Well subsequently I saw the target aircraft and he must have also acquired my position electronically so he started dropping speed and since I was quite fast I had to drop my speed quickly. I managed to roll a barrel so that I would not fly past him but just stay in his rear quarters. That's when I managed to take a film of his aircraft with my camera. Thereafter I dropped my flaps and maintained a speed 160 Kts in the left echelon. (Thank God for my days in Thunderbolts!). I finally managed to make VHF contact on 121.5 and the conversation went something like this:

Me: USAF RC135 aircraft flying over Bombay High FL 150 this is Dragon 2

USAF RC135: Dragon 2 this is USAF aircraft go ahead

Me: Sir you are in the Air Defence Identification Zone and you need an ADZ clearance.

USAF RC135: Confirm we are in international waters? Me: You need clearance from Indian Air Defence before flying in ADIZ. This is a repeated mistake on your part. You have violated our Air Defence Airspace on multiple occasions without clearance.

USAF RC135: We are over International waters.

Me: Please contact our Air Defence Radar on 127 Mhz

Surprisingly the voice of the pilot was very Asian, almost like an Indian. Thereafter I was asked to return to Base.

Everyone was relieved that it had gone normally with expected objective being achieved, and no untoward incident occurred.

AFTERMATH

After landing the film and debrief was sent to Air Headquarters.

The USAF chief was on a visit to New Delhi at a later date and he was told in detail about the incident. He claimed he was unaware of this incident and promised it would not happen again. I think this was for the first time the Jaguar Ground Attack aircraft was used as an interceptor! I am sure it will be great to catch up with the Dragons on the 80th Anniversary from 17th to 19th March. We all have fond memories of our time with 6 Sqn and are quite blessed to have been a part of the Dragons! God Bless and keep the Dragons flag flying high!