No. 220 Squadron IAF

No. 220 Squadron (Desert Tigers) is a fighter squadron and is equipped with Su-30 MKIs and based at Halwara Air Force Station.^[1]

No. 220 Squadron
Active	23 December 1957 — July 2005 1 September 2011 — Present
Country	Republic of India
Branch	Indian Air Force
Role	Close Air Support Air Defence
Garrison/HQ	Halwara AFS
Nickname(s)	"Desert Tigers"
Motto(s)	Shauryam Tejo Dhritih Valour, Energy and Firmness

History

From its birth until just short of the Indo-Pak war of 1965, the role of the squadron was Operational Conversion onto Vampire aircraft of the freshly commissioned pilots. The squadron, later re-equipped with the Indigenous HF-24 Marut in April 1969 and flew the Marut in the 1971 Indo-Pak War. In June 1981, the squadron converted onto the MiG-23BN.,^[2] It was raised at IAF Station Jodhpur and in year 1997 It moved to IAF Station Halwara.

IAF had disbanded the 220 Squadron in June 2005 because of very old aircraft, but resurrected that with the induction of the SU 30 MKIs on 25 September 2012.^[3] They received the President's standards at Halwara AFS on 20 September 2013.^[4]

Assignments

• Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Aircraft

Aircraft Types operated by 220 Squadron^[5][6]

Aircraft Type	From	To	Air Base
de Havilland Vampire FB.52	9 January 1963	1 May 2006	AFS Palam
HF-24 Marut	April 1969	June 1981
MiG-23 BN	June 1981	1997
	1997	July 2005	AFS Halwara
Su-30 MKI	1 September 2011	Present

References

1. "Squadrons and Helicopter Units". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
2. Pike, John. "Squadron 220". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
3. "No.220 Squadron, Indian Air Force - Database". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
4. "No.220 Squadron - Presentation of the Presidents Standards". Bhaat-rakshak.com=. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
5. "No.220 Squadron Desert Tigers". Retrieved 2 January 2022.
6. "Presidential standards awarded to IAF Units". New Indian Express. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2022.