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The Southern Air Command (SAC) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, which is on the southwestern side of India. This is one among the seven commands of IAF. This command was started on 19 July 1984 and is relatively new among the other commands. The conflicts in Sri Lanka and the need for establishing a strong base over the Indian Ocean resulted to the formation of this new command. The SAC was inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[1]
| Southern Air Command | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Southern Air Command | |
| Founded | 19 July 1984 |
| Country | India |
| Branch | Indian Air Force |
| Type | Operational Air Command |
| Headquarters | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala |
| Motto(s) | Sanskrit: Antariksham Prashasmahe We Command the space |
| Commanders | |
| Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief | Air Marshal Balakrishnan Manikantan, AVSM,VM |
From 1984 to 1999, the command grew from 5 lodger units to 17 lodger units under its jurisdiction. Air-sea rescue in the Indian Ocean may be among the command's tasks.
Squadrons include:
| Squadron | Base | Equipment | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 121 Helicopter Flight, IAF | Car Nicobar Air Force Station | Mil Mi-8 | No. 37 Wing |
| No. 122 Helicopter Flight, IAF | Car Nicobar Air Force Station | Mil Mi-8 | No. 37 Wing |
| No. 33 Squadron IAF | Sulur Air Force Station | Antonov An-32 | No. 43 Wing |
| No. 109 Helicopter Unit, IAF | Sulur Air Force Station | Mi-17 V5 | No. 43 Wing |
| No. 45 Squadron IAF[2] | Sulur Air Force Station | HAL Tejas | No. 43 Wing |
| No. 222 Squadron IAF[3] | Thanjavur Air Force Station | Sukhoi Su-30 MKI[4] | No. 47 Wing[5] |
| Rank | Name | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Marshal | Joseph Desa | 18 June 1984[6] | 30 November 1986 |
| Rajagopal Sriramulu Naidu | 1 January 1986[6] | 30 September 1987 | |
| Gandharva Sen | 21 December 1987[6] | 31 October 1989 | |
| Suresh Chand | 7 November 1989[6] | 31 March 1991 | |
| Sukh Dev Mohan | 13 May 1991[6] | 30 April 1992 | |
| Ravinder Nath Bharadwaj | 1 May 1992[6] | 31 July 1993 | |
| Sherwin Derek Leslie Tully | 3 September 1993[6] | 31 March 1995 | |
| Bharat Kumar | 1 May 1995[6] | 30 April 1997 | |
| Krishnan Narayan Nair | 1 May 1997[6] | 2 June 1999 | |
| Darshan Singh Basra | 15 January 1999[6] | 31 August 2000 | |
| Manjit Singh Sekhon | 1 September 2000[6] | 12 March 2002 | |
| Tej Mohan Asthana | 18 March 2002[6] | 31 December 2002 | |
| Anil Kumar Trikha | 1 January 2003[6] | 31 December 2003 | |
| Sunil Kumar Malik | 2 January 2004[6] | 30 September 2004 | |
| Sharad Yeshwant Savur | 1 August 2004[6] | 31 August 2006 | |
| Padamjit Singh Ahluwalia | 1 September 2006[6] | 31 January 2007 | |
| Yashwant Rao Rane | 1 February 2007[6] | 31 March 2008 | |
| Suresh Chandra Mukul | 1 April 2008[6] | 30 September 2008 | |
| Sadasivan Radhakrishnan | 1 October 2008[6] | 31 August 2009 | |
| Sumit Mukerji | 1 September 2009[6] | 30 June 2011 | |
| Satish Pal Singh | 1 July 2011[6] | 31 July 2012 | |
| Rakesh Kumar Jolly | 1 August 2012[6] | 31 December 2013 | |
| Arun Purushottam Garud | 1 January 2014[6] | 31 May 2015 | |
| Jasbir Walia | 1 June 2015[6] | 31 July 2016 | |
| Sunderraman Neelakantan | 1 August 2016 | 1 March 2017 | |
| Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria | 1 March 2017 | 1 August 2018 | |
| Balakrishnan Suresh | 1 August 2018 | 30 October 2019 | |
| Amit Tiwari | 1 November 2019 | 31 January 2021 | |
| Manavendra Singh | 1 February 2021 | 25 September 2021 | |
| Jonnalagedda Chalapati | 4 October 2021 | 31 March 2023 | |
| Balakrishnan Manikantan | 1 May 2023 | Incumbent[7] |
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