Supermarine Spitfire. Asian Users, part three. India.

 

The first Spitfires that saw service with the Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) were three Mk.Vc Trop which were assigned to No.4 Squadron RIAF in August 1943. One Mk.Vc Trop is known to have served as well with No.1 Service Flying Training School in 1946. 
In late 1944 the Supermarine Spitfire was provided to the No.8 Squadron of the Royal Indian Air Force. Most of those machines came from Royal Air Force's (RAF) squadrons that were stationed in India during World War 2. However, most of RIAF's squadrons were not equipped with the Spitfire until June 1945 and their RAF serials were not overpainted with Indian Air Force's serials until 1947 when India achieved independence. 
Indian Spitfires barely saw any action during World War 2, although some sources claim they were sporadically employed in the ground support role. 
In June 1945 Nos.17, 81, 131 and 615 squadrons RAF that were stationed in India at the end of World War 2, were disbanded with their Spitfires being loaned to the RIAF, equipping some squadrons or reserve units. 
When British India was split in two, the Spitfires were employed by Air Flying School (India) and No.1 Photo Reconnaissance Flights of the RIAF during the opening months of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947-1948 in the defence of the Kashmir valley in October-November 1947 at the battles of Badgam and Shelatang. It was during this conflict that the RIAF/IAF sought to rapidly expand their fighter force in late December 1947 by using Spitfires, however, the RIAF/IAF had already acquired some Hawker Tempest which were put to good use in that conflict. 
The Spitfire's career with both the RIAF and the IAF was limited to serve as an advanced trainer and they were phased out in 1955, with some PR version serving with No.14  Squadron IAF until 1957/1958. 
As India was, together with Hong Kong, one of the last user of the Spitfire and the take over by the RIAF/IAF and their reserialization was rather chaotic, the information about the Indian Spitfire is rather scarce, contradictory and confuse.
In total 159 Spitfires of various marks served with either the RIAF or the IAF from 1943 until 1958.

Sources:
1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Supermarine_Spitfire_operators#India
2nd https://www.warbirds.in/overseas/spitfires/supermarine-spitfires/#:~:text=The%20IAF%20was%20one%20of,in%20the%20HS—batch).

de Havilland Vampire. Part eight. Some Asian users

 

The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter designed and developed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. The Royal Air Force (RAF) was its main user, however there were some other users all around the globe, among them, the following ones:

• Union of Burma: The Burmese Air Force (BAF) ordered eight Vampire T.55 trainers in 1954. They were built at Chester factory, Cheshire and flown from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, to Mingaladon, Rangoon, Burma, on 7th December 1954 with a second batch following in February 1955. During the long Burmese Civil War, some of the Vampires were used in strafing attacks, and some of them were lost. 
• India: During 1947 India achieved independence, but it was partitioned with Pakistan, leading to many skirmishes and border wars. As the newly created Indian Air Force (IAF) was equipped with piston-powered aircraft, they sought to replace them and, for that end, they reached an agreement with de Havilland in 1948 for 286 Vampire FB.52. This included 39 machines manufactured at Hatfield and the rest were to be built under license in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). 
  On 6th November 1948 three Vampire F.Mk.3 were flown to India to provide initial experience on jet aircraft. They were assigned to No. 1Aircraft Testing unit with base at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Between the years of 1949 and 1963 the Vampire FB.52 equipped 16 frontline squadrons of the IAF. The agreed 39 Hatfield-made aircraft were delivered between September 1950 and June 1951. The other FB.52s made by HAL were manufactured in February 1952, though it's not known when their production was stopped. 
  To provide training 43 additional Vampire T.55 were ordered, being delivered between May 1953 and April 1954. A further 10 T.55s were delivered between October 1957 and February 1958 with HAL manufacturing 60 T.55s more and Indian buying eight T.55s to Indonesia from surplus stocks. In July 1963 the IAF bought 7 ex-RAF T.11 trainers. It's known that five T.55s were modified with cameras to serve as reconnaissance aircraft, replacing the venerable Supermarine Spitfire PR.XIX. Those Vampires were named as Vampire PR.55. 
  The night fighter version of the Vampire was also employed by the IAF as they acquired 18 ex-RAF Vampire NF.10 (known as NF.54 in their export variant) and were delivered between April and October 1954. Those were reinforced with additional 12 machines in 1957.
  The Indian Navy bought 24 Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6 to be used on board the INS Vikrant aircraft carrier and, in order to provide jet experience, two Vampire FB.52 and two T.55s were transferred to the Navy.
  During the Second Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and again in the third one of 1971 Indian Vampires were employed in action against Pakistani forces. Many of them were lost to enemy bombing and strafing attacks. The Vampire was no match for the missile-armed North American F-86 Sabre of the Pakistan Air Force and therefore the IAF lost many of them in combat. On 1st April 1975 most of the remaining Vampires were withdrawn from active service and scrapped.
• Indonesia: In 1955 the Indonesian Government bought 8 Vampire T.55s. The first one was flown from Hatfield to Indonesia on 23rd September 1955 for a handling ceremony with Indonesian officials. The rest were shipped and reassembled in Jakarta, where they were also test-flown and were eventually handed over to the Indonesian Air Force on 20th February 1956. Two years later, the Indonesian Government reached and agreement with the USSR to equip their forces with Soviet material and the Vampires were sold to India in 1958.
• Iraq: The Royal Iraqi Air Force (RIAF) ordered twelve Vampire FB.52 after being influenced by the RAF. Those machines were delivered between May 1953 and November 1955. The first Vampire-equipped squadron of the RIAF was the No. 5 Squadron, based at El-Rashid Air Base, near Baghdad. 
  When Faisal II, last king of Iraq, was overthrown in 1958 only six FB-52s were listed as serviceable, however, in 1961 one T.55 was sent to Chester for overhaul and fitment of ejection seats. Given the poor state of the fuselage, the fuselage of another T.11 was matched with the wings and tail of the Iraqi one. 
  Some Vampires were still operational in late 1961 when they were observed attacking Kurdish rebels north of the country.
• Japan: In 1955 the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) ordered one Vampire T.55 for evaluation purposes. It was delivered to Japan in November 1955 with ejection seats and the new type frame-less canopy. It was demonstrated to JASDF officers during March and April 1956 but the machine failed to convince them and no orders were placed.

Sources:

1st: Hall Park Books - Warpaint 27 - De Havilland Vampire

2nd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Vampire

3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_de_Havilland_Vampire_operators

Fairey Firefly, various users

 

The Fairey Firefly was a British World War II era carrier-borne fighter and anti-submarine aircraft that in its TT (Target Tug) version was produced in small numbers from various of the original fighter variants like the Mk.I or the Mk.4. It was exported to various countries, among them, the following ones:

• Denmark: The Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) received two Firefly TT.1 originally converted from the Swedish Svensk Flygtjänst AB. The TT.1 was adopted by the RDAF as the standard target-towing equipment for all their three aerial branches of the Army, Navy and Air Force. 
  The first TT.1 was flown to Copenhagen on 4th October 1951 by Cpt. A.M. Kock. Additional four Fireflies were received from the Royal Canadian Navy one year later in 1952. Those ones were converted to the target-towing role in Denmark using Fairey's conversion kits. They served until 1957 when the three surviving Fireflies were sold back to the Svensk Flygtjänst AB which employed them only for spare parts.
• Sweden: Back during World War 2 the Swedish civilian company Svensk Flygtjänst AB, provided airborne target services for the Swedish Army. In order to fulfil this task, the company looked in 1948 for an effective target-tug and asked Fairey to develop a version of the Firefly. Therefore, Fairey modified 14 Fireflies Mk.I to TT.1 standards by adding windmill-operated type B.Mk.2B winches.
  A total of 12 Firefly TT.1 were delivered to Svensk Flygtjänst AB, being the last two ones diverted to Denmark. Fairey's chief test pilot, Group Cpt. G. Slade, delivered the first Firefly TT.1 by air to Sweden in December 1948. Four further Fireflies were acquired later and served until as late as 1964.
• India: The, back then, newly founded Indian Naval Air Arm bought two Firefly TT.1 which were delivered to Cochin, in the Indian State of Kerala, on 14th February 1955. Three further TT.1s arrived in India three months later. Another five Firefly TT.4 were exported in September 1958.
  Indian Fireflies were used by the 550 Squadron of the Indian Navy at Cochin Air Base to tow drogue targets for the Fleet's anti-aircraft gunnery practices. The TT.4 versions were fully armed with four 20 mm guns and were able to carry offensive stores beneath the wings, in addition to long-range fuel tanks.

Sources:

1. Hall Park Books - Warpaint 28 - Fairey Firefly

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Firefly

3. https://www.valka.cz/Fairey-Firefly-T-Mk-1-t113116