How the Cub helped India win the 1971 war
NATO uses code names for the military aircraft of Russia. They provide English words in a uniform manner in place of the original designations. The first letter indicates the type of aircraft. India’s arsenal has had and currently has several Russian aircraft of all types. B stands for bomber aircraft (so the TU-142 is called Bear), F for fighter aircraft (MiG 21 called Fishbed), H for helicopter (MI–17 called Hip) and M for miscellaneous (such as IL-38 called May, a naval reconnaissance aircraft used by the Indian Navy). They also use C for cargo aircraft. Little would they have known that when they used the name Cub in 1959 for the AN-12 aircraft, the letter B would have equally applied to it 12 years later?
The Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted the first of these aircraft in 1961, when it raised No 44 Squadron - "The Himalayan Geese" - at Chandigarh. These aircraft took part in airlifting army reinforcements to Ladakh during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Subsequently, another squadron of AN-12s was raised (No 25 Squadron).
My father, late group captain VC Mankotia (then wing commander), took over as the squadron commander of 44 Squadron in 1967. Though the AN-12 played a remarkable role in air transport and air maintenance roles, it had its limitations. It was partially pressured. The navigational aids were rudimentary. It was at the 1968 Republic Day fly-past rehearsals, with my father in the lead, that it was realised how difficult it was to carry out low level formation flying with a high winged, turboprop, huge aircraft like the AN-12, sluggish to respond to throttle movement.
The AN-12s had never done any formation flying before. Recalls wing commander Gautam Guha (Retd) who was the lead navigator, that he had to calculate speed and time to ensure accurate time over the saluting base. Tito, the president of Yugoslavia and India’s comrade-in-arms in the non-aligned movement, was the chief guest. With the crew cursing under their breath, the formation flying was mastered and the fly-past went off without a hitch. After two hours ten minutes of non-stop flying (Chandigarh-Saluting Base-Chandigarh), the crew was treated to beer and biryani.
How the mastery over formation flying came in handy will soon be apparent.
Air marshal (Retd) Ashok Goel, an authority on transport aircraft and India Strategic’s aviation editor, has stated that the IAF had toyed with the idea of using the AN-12s for bombing when my father took over the command of IAF’s 44 Squadron in 1967. The innovative idea was encouraged by the then chief of the air staff, air chief marshal Arjan Singh.
My father got cradles built locally to store and roll out the bombs and crews were trained for low-level night missions. Carpet bombing trials over KK Range off Air Force Station, Pune were carried out. The aircraft carried 10,500 pounder high explosive bombs on iron cradles fixed on to transporter rails. The aircraft had to drop from 9,000 feet to 1,000 feet with time delay fuse. Without a proper bomb sight it was very tough to determine the time to press the green button to release the bombs as there was a skip distance when the bombs reached the ground (KK Range had a rocky surface). It was decided to supply-drop the bombs by judging the distance allowing for skip distance due to time delay fuse.
Remember, the aircraft was a cargo aircraft. Its manufacturers had not intended it to be a bomber. There was no standard operating procedure to rely on. Everything had to be created from scratch. The extensive testing done during this period honed the skills of the crew. This proved to be very critical when the AN-12s were used as bombers in the 1971 war.
By then, wing commander VB Vashisht, my father’s flight commander, had taken over as squadron commander. My father moved on to Guwahati as station commander and lead the air attack on Dhaka in yet another instance of a cargo aircraft (Caribou) converted by him to a bomber.
After the war broke out on December 3, 1971, the AN-12s of 44 Squadron, led by Vashisht, flew night missions (even though the night fighting capability was non-existent), unescorted, and did intense carpet bombing. They were always in waves of six aircraft, and all returned home safely. The aircraft was deployed on both the Western and Eastern sectors, and played a crucial role in turning the fate of the war in India’s favour. The squadron won one Maha Vir Chakra and three Vir Chakras. Notably, 44 Squadron is the only transport squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be conferred the Battle Honours, a feat otherwise reserved for active operational combat units.
After yeoman service, the AN-12 was phased out in 1993 and one of them is preserved at the IAF Museum, Palam, Delhi.
On the occasion of Vijay Diwas, it would be in the fitness of things to acknowledge and appreciate the role of the AN-12, the crew and the Indian Air Force at this highly innovative and inspiring move to convert the aircraft and use it so destructively during the War. The conversion and the intense training that commenced in 1967 culminated in a highly successful venture during the 1971 War. The Soviet officers were amazed and complimented the air force at the new role carved out for an aircraft meant to deliver cargo, not bombs!