No. 87 Squadron of Indian Air Force is located at Panagarh Air Force Station and is assigned to Eastern Air Command. The tactical-aircraft squadron is used for special forces and also for Indian Army's new XVII Mountain Strike Corps located at Panagarh.

No. 87 Squadron
An Indian Air Force C-130J
Active6 May 2016 - Present
CountryIndia
RoleSpecial Air Operations
Garrison/HQPanagarh AFS
Nickname(s)"Raiding Raptors"[1]
Motto(s)Wings of Valor[2]
Aircraft flown
TransportC-130J Super Hercules

History

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Initially, two C-130Js from No. 77 Squadron, Hindon AFS operated from Panagarh since its inauguration in May 2016, till the new Super Hercules arrived next year.[3] The first two C-130J Super Hercules landed in July 2017.[4] A month later in August 2017, remaining four aircraft arrived at the base with IAF commissioning the air base as Air Force Station Arjan Singh.[5][6]

Lineage

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  • Constituted as No. 87 Squadron on 6 May 2016.

Aircraft

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References

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  1. ^ "Super Hercules can play vital role in conflicts: IAF". 7 October 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  2. ^ ANI [@ANI] (3 October 2019). "Air Force Station Arjan Singh conducted Swachh Bharat campaign yesterday. Air Cmde D Vedajna inaugurated the campaign & handed over campaign flag to Wg Cdr Gajanand Yadava who undertook a skydive jump with the flag from 15,000 feet above the ground. https://t.co/xsJc20FXid" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Panagarh gets two Super Hercules from Hindon till arrival of new aircraft". The Times of India. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 19 Feb 2017.
  4. ^ "C-130Js arrive in Bengal IAF station". The Hindu. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  5. ^ "IAF strengthens eastern base with six Super Hercules jets in Panagarh". 24 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Amid Doklam row with China, IAF commissions new Super Hercules base in the east". 24 August 2017.