March 29, 2024
Bagdogra airfield near the Siliguri corridor has a Sukhoi-7 ground attack aircraft along with a Gnat. New photos reveal the identity of these two birds. 

Bagdogra airfield, (IATA: IXB, ICAO: VEBD) is located in the town of Bagdogra, about 16 km (9.9 mi) West of the city of Siliguri in the Darjeeling district in northern West Bengal, India. It is the gateway airport to the hill station towns of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Mirik, and Kalimpong and the state of Sikkim, and sees thousands of tourists annually. 

The airbase is home to the IAF’s No. 20 Wing. Which as once upon a time home to the MiG-21FLs of No. 8 Squadron. The airfield was home to No.7 Squadron flying the Hawer Hunter during the 1971 War.

Sukhoi-7 on warbird duty in the northern corner of the airfield. Photo Credit : Rahul Devnath
This Sukhoi-7 is believed to be the one on the eastern side of the runway. (Photo by A Gupta)
   

The airfield runway runs in the North-South direction. The airfield was home to atleast two Sukhoi-7s and a Gnat till 2012.  The Sukhoi that is to the north of the airfield has been moved away in 2013 – its current location and fate is unknown.     The identities of these aircraft are initially not known.

In 2016 the two new photos surfaced that revealed the identity of the Gnat as IE-1245 and the Sukhoi as B-844

Bagdogra B844 The identity of the sole remaining Sukhoi-7 at Bagdogra has been revealed as B-844. A Pakistani M-24 Chaffee tank from the Bangladesh war is displayed alongside it. The Tank shows battle damage in the form of a shell hit.(Photo via PS)

The airfield is also home to several retired MiG-21 airframes, almost two dozen of these can be seen scatterred around some of the blast pens in the south eastern corner of the airfield. These aircraft have since been removed by September of 2016 

Sukhoi-7 noted somewhere on the airfield. Believed to be the same B-844 (Photo by A Gupta)

 


Location of Sukhoi-7

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1 thought on “Sukhoi-7 at Bagdogra Air Force Station (20 Wing)

  1. Terai T. G Workers & Labours Welfare Society is a Government Register registered NGO who works with tea workers children & slum Children of Bagodgra & other area of Darjeeling District. We teach them, train them in Music, Dance art. You can see our activities in our fbpage. Please let us know how can we apply for stationary things which your giving in Schools of Bagdogra. Pathanari Jnt Basic School where I work received same from your Bhuttabari command.

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