# List of aerial victories during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971

The Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan and West Pakistan from 3 December 1971 to the Fall of Dacca (Dhaka) on 16 December 1971. The war saw intense use of aerial assets by both sides and proved to be instrumental in the Indian victory in East Pakistan (Bangladesh).
The following lists contains aerial victories credited to both Indian as well as Pakistani pilots.

## List of Notations Used

| Abbreviation | Full form |
| IAF | Indian Air Force |
| PAF | Pakistan Air Force |
| Fg Offer | Flying Officer |
| Flt Lt | Flying Lieutenant |
| Wg Cdr | Wing Commander |
| Gp Capt | Group Captain |

## Eastern sector (Bangladesh)

Probable or Unconfirmed kills are in italics text
| Pilot | Pilot's Squadron | Country | Date | Aircraft Type | Victim Pilot | Victim Pilot's Squadron | Victim Aircraft | Remarks |
| Flt Lt M. A. Ganapathy | No. 22 Squadron IAF | India | 22 Nov Battle of Boyra | Folland Gnat | Fg Offr Khail Ahmad | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | Fg Offr Ahmad taken POW, Ganapathy awarded Vir Chakra |
| Fg Offr Donald Lazarus | No. 22 Squadron IAF | India | 22 Nov Battle of Boyra | Folland Gnat | Flt. Lt. Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | Flt Lt Qureshi taken POW, Lazarus awarded Vir Chakra |
| Flt Lt Roy Andrew Massey | No. 22 Squadron IAF | India | 22 Nov Battle of Boyra | Folland Gnat | Wg Cdr Afzal Chaudhry | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | Chaudhary awarded Sitara-e-Jurat, his Sabre was severely damaged, but PAF claims that he returned to base, however Massey's wingman saw Chaudhary bail out. Massey awarded Vir Chakra |
| Wg Cdr Narinder Chatrath | No. 17 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Wg Cdr Muhammed Ahmed | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | Ahmed posthumously awarded Sitara-i-Juraat ( |
| Flt Lt Jayendra Sukrut Raj | No. 4 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | MiG-21 | Unidentified Pilot | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | The last unaccountable F86 was probably shot down by Sukurut Raj |
| Flt Lt Vinod Kumar Neb | No. 17 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Flt Lt Saeed Afzal Khan | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | Khan KIA. |
| Fg Offr Harish Masand | No. 37 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Flt Lt Saeed Afzal | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | Flt Lt Saeed Afzal bailed out KIA Masand awarded Vir Chakra |
| Wg Cdr Ramaswamy Sundaresan | No. 14 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Fg Offr Sahibzada Sajjad Noor | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | Sundersan awarded Vir Chakra |
| Sqn Ldr Dilwar Hussain | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 4th Dec | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | Flt Lt Kenneth Charles Tremenheere | No. 14 Squadron IAF | Hawker Hunter | Tremenhere S.D at Tejgaon and taken POW |
| Flt Lt Saeed Afzal Khan | No. 14 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 4th Dec | Canadair Sabre Mk6 | Sqn Ldr Kanwal Deep Mehra | No. 14 Squadron IAF | Hawker Hunter | Khan awarded Sitara-i-Juraat; bailed out but MIA, Mehra S.D at Tejgaon but bailed out. |

## Western sector

Probable Kills or Unconfirmed kills are in italics text;
| Pilot | Pilot's Squadron | Country | Date | Aircraft Type | Victim Pilot | Victim Pilot's Squadron | Victim Aircraft Type | Remarks |
| Flt Lt Javed Latif | No. 23 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 4th Dec | Shenyang F6C | Flt Lt Harvinder Singh | No. 222 Squadron IAF | Sukhoi Su7 | Singh MIA Latif awarded Tamgha-e-Jurat |
| Fg Off Qazi Javed | No. 25 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 4th Dec PAF Base Murid | Shenyang F6C | Fg Off Vidyadhar Shankarrao Chati | No. 27 Squadron IAF | Hawker Hunter | Chati bailed out and taken POW |
| Fg Off Salim Beg Mirza | No. 26 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 4th Dec PAF Base Peshawar | F-86F | Flt Lt Kotteiezath Puthiyavettil Muralidharan | No. 20 Squadron IAF | Hawker Hunter | Murlidharan KIA |
| Flt Lt Mujahid Salik | No. 15 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 4th Dec PAF Base Murid | F-86F | Fg Off Sudhir Tyagi | No. 27 Squadron IAF | Hawker Hunter | Tyagi posthumously awarded Vir Chakra |
| Fg Off Naeem Atta | No. 5 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 4th Dec | Dassault Mirage III | Flt Lt L Moses Sasoon; Flt Lt Ram Metharam Advani | | English Electric Canberra | Sasoon and Advani KIA |
| Wng Cdr Cecil Vivian Parker | No. 20 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Unidentified Pilot | | F-86E | |
| Wng Cdr Cecil Vivian Parker | No. 20 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Flt Lt Nayyar Iqbal | No. 17 Squadron PAF | F-86E | Iqbal KIA. According to Pakistani accounts and sources, the aircraft suffered an accidental flameout Parker awarded Maha Vir Chakra |
| Fg Off Sudhir Tyagi | No. 27 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Unidentified Pilot | | F-86E/Mirage III | Tyagi awarded Vir Chakra Kill at PAF Base Murid. |
| Flt Lt Charan Singh Dhillon | No. 108 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Unidentified Pilot | | F86E | Dhillon awarded Vayu Sena Medal |
| Wg Cdr Johnny Greene | No. 2 Squadron IAF | India | 4th Dec | Folland Gnat F.1 | Unidentified Pilot | | Dassault Mirage III/Lockheed F-104 Starfighter | Intercepted and photographed while chasing a F-104 Starfighter over Ferozepur and prevented it from damaging the radar installations |
| Sqn Ldr Krishen Kumar Bakshi | No. 220 Squadron IAF | India | 05 Dec | HAL HF24 Mk1 | Unidentified Pilot | | F-86E | Bakshi awarded Vir Chakra, aviation historians claim the unidentified Pakistani pilot was Fg Off Hamid Khawaja Naya Chor, Sindh and Dhoran, Kumbhalgarh, area. |
| Fg Off Safdar | | Pakistan PAF Base Sakesar | 05 Dec | Dassault Mirage III | Sqn Ldr Jal Maniksha Mistry | No. 20 Squadron IAF | Hawker Hunter 56A | Mistry posthumously awarded Vir Chakra. |
| Flt Lt Shahid Raza | No. 25 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 05 Dec | Shenyang F6C | Fg Off Kishan Lakhimal Malkani | | Hawker Hunter | Malkani posthumously awarded Vir Chakra |
| Wing Cdr Saad A Hatmi | No. 25 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 05 Dec PAF Base Sakesar | Shenyang F6C | Flt Lt Gurmit Singh Rai | No. 27 Squadron IAF | Hawker Hunter | Rai bailed out Sakesar area. |
| Unidentified Pilot | | Pakistan | 05 Dec | F-86 | Unidentified Pilot(s) | | Alloutte III | Alloutte pilots safely bailed out |
| Flight Lieutenant Salimuddin | No. 5 Squadron PAF | Pakistan Battle of Chumb | 06 Dec | Dassault Mirage III | Flt Lt Vijay Kumar Wahi | No. 101 Squadron IAF | Sukhoi Su-7 | Wahi posthumously awarded Vir Chakra Jammu Sector |
| Unidentified Pilot | | India | 07 Dec | Hawker Hunter | Fg Off later Air Vice Marshal Hamid Khawaja | No. 15 Squadron PAF | F-86E | Pilot crashed while chasing Hunter, acc. to the PAF. |
| Flt Lt Cecil Choudhary | No. 5 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 07 Dec | F-86 | Fg Off Adhi Rustamji Gandhi | No. 7 Squadron IAF | Sukhoi Su-7 | |
| Fg Off Atiq Sufi | No. 11 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 07 Dec Samba | Shenyang F6C | Sqn Ldr Jiwa Singh | | Sukhoi Su-7 | Singh KIA |
| Wg Cdr M H Hashmi | No. 23 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 08 Dec | F-86E | Flt Lt Ramesh Gulabrao Kadam | | Sukhoi Su-7 BMK | Kadam KIA PAF Risalewala. |
| Flt Lt Ramesh Gulabrao Kadam | TACDE | India | 08 Dec PAF | Sukhoi Su-7 BMK | Flt Lt A J Siddiqui | No. 23 Squadron PAF | Shenyang F6C | F/L A J Siddqui is claimed by the PAF to have been shot while chasing Kadam's formation. The pilots of both sides were KIA. |
| Unidentified pilot | | India | 09 Dec | MiG-21FL | Unidentified Pilot | | Dassault Mirage III EP | 2 K-13 AAMs were launched and a proximity hit recorded. Target disappeared from radar. Listed as 'Probable' |
| Sqn Ldr Ravinder Nath Bhardwaj | No. 20 Squadron IAF | India | 10 Dec | Hawker Hunter | Sqn Ldr Aslam Chaudhry | No. 26 Squadron PAF | F-86E | Chaudhry posthumously awarded Sitara-i-Jurat Bhardwaj awarded Maha Vir Chakra |
| Wg Cdr Arif Iqbal | No. 9 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 10 Dec | F-104A | Lt Cdr Ashok Roy (Pt) Lt H S Sirohi (Obs) Acmn O Vijayan (TG) | | Bréguet Br.1050 Alizé | Roy, Sirohi and Vijayan KIA |
| Wg Cdr Bhukhari | | Pakistan | 11 Dec | F-86 | Flt Lt Krishna Kumar Mohan | | Sukhoi Su-7 | Mohan KIA Shakargarh (Location) |
| Flt. Lt.Bharat Bhushan Soni | No. 47 Squadron IAF | India | 12th Dec | MiG-21 | Wg Cdr Mervyn L Middlecoat | No. 9 Squadron PAF | Lockheed F-104A Starfighter | Flt Lt Soni awarded Vir Chakra had spotted Middlecoat bail out and had rushed a rescue team from the nearest IAF station. However the rescue team found no trace of Middlecoat. He had ejected over shark infested waters, it was highly unlikely that he survived. Middlecoat posthumously awarded Sitara-e-Jurat |
| Sqn Ldr Viney Kapila | | India | 12th Dec | MiG-21FL | Unidentified Pilot | | F-104A/F-86E | F-104A mentioned in official records, Kapila awarded Vir Chakra |
| Flt Lt Surinder Singh Malhotra | | India | 12 Dec | Sukhoi Su-7 BMK | Flt Lt Ejazuddin | No. 23 Squadron PAF | Shenyang F6C | Although initially PAF did not credit the kill but later accepted the loss of one F-6 over the general area of dogfight Malhotra awarded Vir Chakra |
| Sqn Ldr Farokh Jehangir Mehta | | India | 13th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Fg Off Nasim Nisar Ali Baig | No. 19 Squadron PAF | F-86 | Beg KIA awarded Tamgha-i-Jurat Mehta awrded Vir Chakra |
| Flt Lt Kukke Sreekantasastry Suresh | | India | 13th Dec | Hawker Hunter | Unidentified Pilot | | F-86 | Suresh awarded Vir Chakra |
| Flt Lt Salim Baig Mirza | No. 26 Squadron PAF | Pakistan | 14 Dec Srinagar Airfield | F-86 | Fg Off Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon | No. 18 Squadron IAF | Folland Gnat | Sekhon awarded Param Vir Chakra posthumously in 6:1 fight Mirza awarded Sitara-e-Jurat |
| Sqn Ldr S Gauhar | | Pakistan | 14 Dec | F-86 | Capt P K Gaur | | HAL Krishak | Observation Aircraft belonging to Indian Army |
| Wg Cdr M N Singh Sqn Ldr F J Mehta (Shared) | No. 122 Squadron IAF | India | 15 Dec | Hawker Hunter T.66 (Two-seater) | Unidentified Pilot | | F-86 | Maneuver kill. Target flew into the ground. |
| Flt Lt Samar Bikram Shah | | India | 16 Dec | Mig-21FL | Unidentified Pilot | | Shenyang F6C | F-6 Wreckage found by Indian Army |
| Flt Lt Virendera Singh Pathania | No. 18 Squadron IAF | India | 16 Dec | Folland Gnat | Unidentified Pilot | | North American F-86 Sabre | Unconfirmed Kill |
| Flt Lt Maqsood Amir | | Pakistan | 17 Dec | F-86 | Flt Lt Tejwant Singh | | Mig-21 | Singh bailed out became POW Amir awarded Tamgha-i-Jurat |
| Flt Lt Niraj Kukreja | No. 29 Squadron IAF | India | 17 Dec | MiG-21FL | Flt Lt Samad Ali Changezi | No. 9 Squadron PAF | F-104A | Changezi posthumously awarded Sitara-e-Jurat, Kukeraja awarded Vir Chakra |
| Unidentified Pilot | | India | 17 Dec | Hawker Hunter | Unidentified Pilot(s) | | 2x Cessna 0-1 | Confirmed by PAF chronicler, John Fricker's, records |

## List of aircraft mentioned
### India

| Aircraft | Country of Origin |
| Aérospatiale Alouette III | France |
| Bréguet 1050 Alizé | France |
| English Electric Canberra | United Kingdom |
| Folland Gnat | United Kingdom |
| Hawker Hunter | United Kingdom |
| HAL HF-24 Marut | India |
| HAL Krishak | India |
| Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21FL | Soviet Union |
| Sukhoi Su-7BMK | Soviet Union |

### Pakistan

| Aircraft | Country of Origin |
| Canadair Sabre | Canada |
| Cessna O-1 Bird Dog | USA |
| Dassault Mirage III | France |
| Lockheed F-104A Starfighter | USA |
| North American F-86 Sabre | USA |
| Shenyang F6 | China |