Intriguing facts about the Indian Navy's longest-serving combat unit - White Tigers!

The longest-serving combat unit of the Indian Navy, the White Tigers squadron, had played a stellar role in the 1971 India-Pakistan war. The premier Fighter squadron of the Indian Navy - Indian Naval Air Squadron 300 - has completed more than 60 glorious years in service of the nation. 

 

 

The 1971 Indo-Pak war, which led to the liberation of East Pakistan and the subsequent creation of Bangladesh, was the only major instance that the White Tigers, Indian Naval Air Squadron - 300 (INAS 300), had seen action. The squadron had been sent to the Bay of Bengal onboard the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant from its base, the Indian Naval air station Hansa in Dabolim, Goa.

 

 

The squadron had played a major role in the defeat of Pakistan. The fighter jets had attacked and destroyed numerous air bases, merchant vessels, and gunboats in erstwhile East Pakistan. The Pakistani troops had made an attempt to flee to Myanmar following the onslaught but the White Tigers and the presence of the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant could not make that possible. The White Tigers and INS Vikrant offered continuous support from the sea during the war.

 

 

1. The White Tigers was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 7, 1959, in a British army installation Brawdy in Wales. First-generation Sea-Hawks were found to be most suitable for the INS Vikrant which weighed about 20,000 tonnes.

 

2. The first set of pilots for operating the Sea-Hawks was trained by the British. The jet fighters came on board the Vikrant in May 1961. They were subsequently headquartered at INS Hansa in Goa.

 

 

3. The Sea-Hawks were retired from the Indian Navy in a phased manner in the late-70s and early-80s. Subsequently, the Indian Navy procured attack and reconnaissance aircraft Sea Harriers from British manufacturers.

 

4. The White Tigers entirely comprised Sea Harriers from 1984 till May 2016 when these aircraft too were decommissioned. MiG 29-MKI aircraft comprise the White Tigers at present.

 

5. The squadron gave two chiefs to the navy -- Admiral Arun Prakash and Admiral Sureesh Mehta.

 

6. The squadron became the mainstay of power projection over the Indian Seas and proved its mettle on various occasions including Operation Vijay in 1961, Indo China war in 1962 and the Indo Pak wars in 1965 and 1971 where the White Tigers earned nine gallantry awards including one Maha Vir Chakra and five Vir Chakras.

 

 

 

7. The mascot of the squadron ‘White Tiger’ captures the essence of the men of INAS 300.

 

8. ‘INAS 300’ has been numbered as per the sequential serial number of the Air Squadrons of the Indian Navy.

 

9. The crest design depicts the White Tiger of Rewa in a rampant charging posture against a light Blue background, with Blue and White sea waves in the lower portion.

 

10. The White Tigers, as the squadron is called, has the rare distinction of operating all three fighter aircraft of the Indian Navy from all three Aircraft Carriers - INS Vikrant, INS Viraat and INS Vikramaditya.