March 28, 2024
The first ever Jaguar warbird is reported in the wild.. at a Sainik School.. and it turns out to be a French Air Frame that never saw service with the IAF..

One of the newest Sainik Schools, SSCN was established in 2019.

First reported by Amartya Ghosh on Twitter – Sainik School Chandrapur appears to hold a Jaguar airframe, the first of its kind reported to be ‘preserved’ as a warbird, and featuring the number “A-105” . The number is spurious and the only close number that one can correlate is “JS-105” .

Every warbird enthusiast that saw the above commented that the aircraft doesn’t look right – it looks weirdly different, the nose and the tail are not the types the IAF operated. Several Twitter users had called out that the Jaguar looks like a french example. We had definitely missed the memo about the import of 31 ex-French Jaguar airframes by HAL as a source for spares.. and as Angad Singh pointed out A105 was an original French Air Force Serial1. So that solves the identity for this airframe – It is a French Air Force example that never saw service with the IAF.

Additionally, the school also appears to have a HPT-32 on its premises. The identity of the aircraft is X-3250

The “spurious” serial number on the nosegear, along with the “French Nose” kept us wondering for quite a bit..
Deepak X3250 – Photo Courtesy : https://goo.gl/maps/2H7bshV9JiyoavZCA

There also appears to be a “Mock up” model of an LCA Trainer – and we should say, a very well executed one at that. This led us to believe the Jaguar may have been a fake example but after close scrutiny, we decided the Jag looks quite original! And that was before we understood the french connection!

 


 Featured Image  via https://goo.gl/maps/A2p4CqvaYVU3dBMo9 

1 thought on “Sainik School Chandrapur – The First Jaguar!

  1. Problem here, Jaguar A105 killed French general Jacques Boichot in a crash on 5.4.83… Unless “repaired”?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *