BY AND COURTESY ANURAG RANA
This is a beautiful 3D animated reconstruction of one of the Indian Air Force’s most unforgettable dogfights — in which Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon valiantly defended the Srinagar air force base with a Folland Gnat against marauding Pakistani F-86 Sabres on December 14, 1971, exactly 41 years ago. A fitting tribute. Big kudos to Anurag for this, and here’s hoping there’s more soon.
Superb animation! Great feat of bravery. We salute you O Valiant Fighter Sekhon.
Touch the Sky with Glory
Superb animation and bravery…We salute this man and IAF…
But to be honest, in what has been described here, we lost the dogfight…We couldn't shoot down even 1 of the F-86, although we brought upon irrepairable damage to most of them so that they ran away….But the 5th and the 6th F-86 shot the Gnat down unfortunately…In those days A2A missiles and BVR and AWACS were unknown commodities, otherwise 1 Gnat would have shot down all the 6 F-86's even before they crossed Pir Panjal range into Srinagar…
Kudos and gratitude to Anurag.
Why are we so shy of celebrating our warriors?
Very well done this..hoping to see more such vids…an eye opener really
Good animation but actually none of the Sabres were hit during this fight: http://kaiser-aeronaut.blogspot.dk/2008/11/hard-nut-to-crack.html
Flg Off Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon would have had a much better chance of surviving this raid if his leader would have stuck around to support him. Without your wingman you are pretty much dead in one vs many dogfight.
Great! Would like to see Alfred Cooke's fight with the Sabres over kalakunda as well as ,if possible, Devaiyaa's taking on the F 104 though possible authentic details are missing.
Thank you so much for bringing it to our notice
What was Flt Lt Ghumman doing?
salute to this man…this is what indian soldier are… Brave.. Proud of these men
@Rahul(Kolkata), I think you've missed the point of this story.
The essence of the story is that a lone Indian pilot held out against six Sabres, scoring hits on two of the Sabres in the process, before being overwhelmed.
Yeah anyone knows what F/L Ghuman had to say after this fight? Unlikely that F/L sekhon could have scored against such overwhelming odds. The IAF should provide the full details of this incident. Truth will not take away anything from this glorious and dogged battle that F/L sekhon fought knowing fully that his odds were slim. The sensible thing any average pilot would have done would be to jump out of the plane and jump into the nearest trench. His action is a genuine example of SUPREME SACRIFICE FOR THE MOTHERLAND.
A great animation tribute to the First knoght Sekhon
Respect…………..just respect……….
Salute to Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon.
Salute to Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon.
The lesson here is how did we get into this 1 against 6 situation over our own skies? Ideally we should have overwhelmed the Pakistani attackers. We had a poorly equipped Air Force and poorly defended airspace on the western front in 1971. Radar coverage was at best spotty and lack of command and control coordination between surrounding bases to launch additional fighter. Was is more important here is to win the fight not how bravely you fight. Hopefully this will be a lesson in speedy defense acquisition for India so we have overwhelming superiority over Pakistan.
The lesson here is how did we get into this 1 against 6 situation over our own skies? Ideally we should have overwhelmed the Pakistani attackers. We had a poorly equipped Air Force and poorly defended airspace on the western front in 1971. Radar coverage was at best spotty and lack of command and control coordination between surrounding bases to launch additional fighter. Was is more important here is to win the fight not how bravely you fight. Hopefully this will be a lesson in speedy defense acquisition for India so we have overwhelming superiority over Pakistan.
Great animation + superb storytelling = Expectations for more valor tales.
A lot of people may disagree with me but I don't believe in heroism and acts of valor. I believe in wiping out the enemy, getting the job done and going back for dinner. Plan and prepare well in advance to win the fight. There is no need for Heroism.
fantastic animation
IAF is bluffing, they lost the 65 war. In 71 Pak's assets were divided in the east and west which helped india. India is a corrupt nation that believes in 36 million gods that is why they lost half of their air force in accidents. Nothing to be so proud of
Could we advise anurag to use an accurate map. Currently used map shows Arunachal as disputed. Note dotted line.
Else a great effort
recently heard that negotiations with dassault not going well with HAL regarding ToT. Is it possible that rafale selection will get scrapped. It seems that eurofighter would have been a better choice.
LOL at @Anonymous 11:48 AM. "India lost the war because it believes in 36 million Gods." Paki logic at its finest. By your logic, one day Pakistan will conquer Mars and convert it to Islam. Your hate towards India doesn't ever make any sense. Makes me wonder how pathetic your life must be?
Super Duper!!! Hats off to Flt lt Sekhon!! it is a pity that we dont have an officially sponsored version of such heroic Sacrifices. You cannot have a better Sales pitch for enlisting officers in the Armed forces!!
To Joy,
As Gen. Patton once said "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his.”
@Anonymous 8:44 PM: Dude, I have understood clearly the main point in the story. I respect fully this brave soldier….What I am saying is in modern warfare, with all the technologies, these situations may not happen again, unless ofcourse, as we have done for the last 60 years and continue to take pride in still doing so, we ignore defence modernization due to red tapism and Gandhi ism….
Well u paki idiot hope u realise all the gods are wit us u have only one and u guys kill innocent people in his name but v praise it god too so count him in too
@Anon at 11:48
Another delusional Paki!
Do read up on your History and find out what Operation Grand Slam and Operation Gibraltar launched by the Pakistani Army in 1965 was and what miserable failures they were.
Hahahah 1971, Pak assets were divided,no shit Einstein what did you expect when you have an East and a West.
The majority of Pak assets were in the west and they could do nothing to relieve pressure on the East.
It is delusional fools like you,who bring repeated grief to Pakistan.
And LOL if we have lost half our airfirce,what good is your PAF which has still never won a war for Pakistan despite that!
Two points:
– Map in opening shows dotted line as Arunachal Pradesh southern boundary. Implies disputed territory?
– Whatever happened to Fl Lt Ghumman? Did he punch out of the melee early?
Terrific animation! KudoS!
Paki @11:48 Congrats on reaching a new low. Lying in the face of facts and history is really something that only the most stupid and brainwashed people will do. Your Madrsa Imam would be so proud of you!
@11:48 AM…
better than beliving in a womanizer…
Nice animation and superbly told. Kudos to Anurag. Waiting for more. How about animating the Tank Battle of Basantar Nala / Bara Pind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Basantar) in which a troop (03 Tanks) of Poona Horse commanded by late 2/Lt Arun Khetarpal beat back one whole squadron (14 tanks) of Pakistani armour making the Supreme Sacrifice in the attempt. Now that would be a treat to watch !
Its an insult to brave men like sekhon when Mrs dixit refuses to even have a national war memorial in india gate. ..
@11:48 Why 36 million. God is in every particle and sub atomic particle. U cant put a number on God . He is infinite. When u say there is one god, then u are creating an excuse to wage war against civilization. God is the Cosmos, the Cosmos is God.
@anon 11.15
This video is about 1971, the war in which you lost half your country. Hope you are proud of that. Yeah you won that war alright didn't you?
Loved it Thanks…
Please pass on our Heart felt thanks for Shri Anurag..
One Word : Respect.Respect & Respect
I was in 9TH grade in open ground teaching my younger sister to ride bike and saw this dog fight live admist wailing of air raid sirens wailing. Then at 6pm heard that Fly Off NS Sekhon had been killed . RIP
PBK
I failed last year in poly.2nd yr…i want to join IAF after poly throught NDA or AFCAD..will officers select me if i perform best in SSB Interview…i feel every time in my dreams that i am the best pilot of IAF…pls suggest me…[email protected] mob- 9561992368