Thaindian News

Bangalore, June 17 (IANS) State-run defence behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) Friday re-kindled fond memories of the maiden flight of its first fighter bomber Marut (HF-24), which took to skies the same day five decades ago at this aerospace hub.

To commemorate the golden jubilee celebrations of the first indigenous jet, the $2.9-billion company roped in its main customer the Indian Air Force (IAF) to relive the challenges its designers, engineers and test pilots went through in making its mock-up wooden glider in 1959 and Marut aircraft two years later.

“The first generation pilots of the air force just loved flying Marut with a sense of pride as it was our own and stood the test of times for over two decades, with a stellar performance during the Indo-Pak war in 1971,” Air Marshal K.J. Mathews said on the occasion.

Admitting that Marut, which in Sanskrit means ’spirit of the tempest’, did not perform the way the air force pilots wanted it to due to problems its engines faced, Mathews said there was something special about it as it was the first fighter-bomber aircraft that was designed, developed and assembled by a developing country.

“Notwithstanding the teething troubles they faced from the imported (Orpheus) engines and flight controls, we nurtured it and got to love it eventually. Though I have flown almost the whole range of aircraft over the years, flying Marut was different as the experience was unique,” Mathews, who is commander-in-chief of the Strategic Forces Command, recalled.

As part of the IAF frontline fleet, the single-seater Marut played an active role in the India-Pakistan 1965 war and not a single aircraft was lost in any aerial combat.

IAF test pilot Group Captain Suranjan Das had the honour of flying the prototype of HF-24 June 17, 1961, in the presence of then defence minister V.K. Krishna Menon and former HAL managing director Air Vice Marshal Aspy Merwan Engineer.

After Marut was certified for initial and final operational clearances, HAL built 129 single seaters and 18 twin-seater trainers from 1964 to 1977.

“The first Marut squadron consisting of 16 aircraft was formed April 1, 1967, at Jamnagar air base in Gujarat under Wing Commander V.K. Murthy followed by two more squadrons at Pune air base in Maharashtra and Jodhpur air base in Rajasthan. The pilots who flew them fondly remember it as a stable and wonderful platform,” HAL Bangalore complex managing director Bala Sundar told the select gathering.

In the victorious December 1971 war, Marut launched a spectacular attack and destroyed the huge ammunition dump at Ghazi Camp in north-western Pakistan.

“The Maruts used their devastating firepower on Pakistani troops, vehicle concentrations and transportation systems in Naya Chor sector and along the Rohri-Khanpur railway line in Sindh province of Pakistan,” Sundar recalled.

For its spectacular role in the Bangladesh liberation war, the Marut squadrons were awarded four Vir Chakras and a mention in dispatches.

Delving into the genesis of the bomber, Sundar said though the HF-24 was conceived in 1956 by then Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee, it took shape with the backing of then defence minister Mahavir Tyagi.

“The project to build an indigenous fighter/bomber aircraft began under renowned aerospace engineer Kurt Tank, who came from Focke-Wulf AG in Germany with a team of 18 designers to Bangalore. Its mock-up wooden glider was flown in April 1959 by Group Captain Roshan Lal Suri and later by Group Captain Kapil Bhargava,” Sundar pointed out.

The IAF began phasing out Marut from its fleet from June 1980 and its last sortie was flown on the Air Force Day Oct 8, 1984, by Wing Commander Vikram Pethia.

“A few of the vintage Maruts are stationed at some of the air forces bases across the country, while two are on display at the HAL Heritage centre and Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum in Bangalore and one at the Air Force Academy at Dundigal in Tamil Nadu,” Wing Commander A.G. Manoj Kumar (Retd) said.