No. 87 Squadron IAF

Squadron of Indian Air Force

No. 87 Squadron
An Indian Air Force C-130J
Active	6 May 2016 - Present
Country	India
Role	Special Air Operations
Garrison/HQ	Panagarh AFS
Nickname(s)	"Raiding Raptors"^[1]
Motto(s)	Wings of Valor ^[2]
Aircraft flown
Transport	C-130J Super Hercules

Military unit

No. 87 Squadron of Indian Air Force is located at Panagarh Air Force Station and is assigned to Eastern Air Command. The tactical-aircraft squadron is used for special forces and also for Indian Army's new XVII Mountain Strike Corps located at Panagarh.

History

Initially, two C-130Js from No. 77 Squadron, Hindon AFS operated from Panagarh since its inauguration in May 2016, till the new Super Hercules arrived next year.^[3] The first two C-130J Super Hercules landed in July 2017.^[4] A month later in August 2017, remaining four aircraft arrived at the base with IAF commissioning the air base as Air Force Station Arjan Singh.^[5]^[6]

Lineage

Constituted as No. 87 Squadron on 6 May 2016.

Aircraft

C-130J Super Hercules.

References

^ "Super Hercules can play vital role in conflicts: IAF". 7 October 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
^ ANI [@ANI] (October 3, 2019). "Air Force Station Arjan Singh conducted Swachh Bharat campaign yesterday. Air Cmde D Vedajna inaugurated the campaign & handed over campaign flag to Wg Cdr Gajanand Yadava who undertook a skydive jump with the flag from 15,000 feet above the ground. https://t.co/xsJc20FXid" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via Twitter.
^ "Panagarh gets two Super Hercules from Hindon till arrival of new aircraft". The Times of India. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 19 Feb 2017.
^ "C-130Js arrive in Bengal IAF station". The Hindu. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
^ "IAF strengthens eastern base with six Super Hercules jets in Panagarh". 24 August 2017.
^ "Amid Doklam row with China, IAF commissions new Super Hercules base in the east". 24 August 2017.

Indian Air Force

Leadership

Minister of Defence
Chief of the Air Staff
Vice Chief of the Air Staff
Deputy Chief of the Air Staff
AOCs-in-C (Commander-in-Chief)
Serving marshals

Components
& commands

Air Force commands

Operational	Central Air Command Eastern Air Command Southern Air Command South Western Air Command Western Air Command
Functional	Training Command Maintenance Command
Joint	Andaman and Nicobar Command Strategic Forces Command Defence Cyber Agency Defence Space Agency Armed Forces Special Operations Division

Air bases

Western Air Command	Adampur Ambala Amritsar Awantipora Bathinda Chandigarh Faridabad Gurugram Halwara Hindan Leh Palam Pathankot Sarsawa Siachen Glacier Sirsa Srinagar Udhampur
Eastern Air Command	Agartala Bagdogra Barapani AFS Barrackpore Chabua Dum Dum Hasimara Jorhat Kalaikunda Kumbhigram Mohanbari Mountain Shadow Tawang Tezpur Panagarh
Central Air Command	Agra Bihta Darbhanga Bakshi Ka Talab Bamrauli Bareilly Chakeri Gorakhpur Maharajpur
Southern Air Command	Car Nicobar Coimbatore Madurai Port Blair Tambaram Thanjavur
South Western Air Command	Bhuj Jaisalmer Jamnagar Jodhpur Lohegaon Nal-Bikaner Naliya Phalodi Uttarlai Makarpura
Training Command	Begumpet Bidar Dundigal Hakimpet Yelahanka Belgaum
Maintenance Command	Nagpur Ojhar
Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs)	Along Chinyalisaur Chushul Daulat Beg Oldi Fukche Hayuliang Mechuka Nyoma Pasighat Airport Tawang Thoise Tuting Vijaynagar Walong Ziro

Squadrons

Combat

No. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
14
15
16
17
18
20
23
24
27
29
30
31
45
47
101
102
106
220
221
222
223
224

Transport

No. 11
12
19
25
33
41
43
44
48
49
59
77
78
81
87

Helicopters

Squadrons	No. 104 125
Units	No. 105 107 109 110 111 112 114 115 116 117 118 119 127 128 129 130 143 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159
Flights	No. 121 122 126 131 132

Acrobatic display

Communication

AHQCS

EW/AWS

RPA

No. 3001
3002
3003
3004
3005

Number plated

No. 10
21
22
26
28
32
35
37
51
108

Aircraft

Military
academies

Education & training	Sainik School Armed Forces Medical College Ajmer Military School Bangalore Military School Belgaum Military School Chail Military School Dholpur Military School Rashtriya Indian Military College
Schools & colleges	Air Force Academy Air Force Administrative College Air Force School, Coimbatore Air Force School, Jodhpur Flying Instructors School Indian Air Force Test Pilot School Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment Air Defence College College of Air Warfare
Tri-service institutions	Defence Services Staff College National Defence Academy National Defence College College of Defence Management Military Institute of Technology