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HF-24
Marut that is preserved outside the HQ building at SWAC in Gandhinagar |
Gujarat , a much neglected state in terms
of the presence of Air Force establishments recieved a boost after the 1965 India Pakistan
War. This state of mostly marsh lands of Kutch, today houses several key bases like Bhuj ,
Jamnagar, Gandhinagar, Nalia etc.
Commercial hubs like Ahmedabad, Indore,
Vadodara have bustling airfields that cater to both Military and Civil aircraft. There are
various smaller airfields like Okha, near Dwarka .
Jamnagar
The State of Gujarat did not recieve much
attention from Military aviation circles till the establishment of the Armament
Training Wing at Jamnagar in the fifties. Established to provide
armament training to operational squadrons, this unit saw the usage of Vampires, Toofanis,
Hunters and now MiG-21s in the training regimen. 1969 saw the establishment of a Operational
Conversion Unit to support the training of pilots in the Hawker Hunter. Though
details of Warbirds are not available, it is believed that the ATW in Jamnagar has a good
number of derelict aircraft within its environs.
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