SURYAKIRAN AEROBATIC DISPLAY TEAM COMPLETES 25 YEARS

SURYAKIRAN AEROBATIC DISPLAY TEAM COMPLETES 25 YEARS

Subject : Defence

Context : The Suryakiran aerobatic display team of the Indian Air Force (IAF), which has enthralled crowds across the country with their hair-raising manoeuvres with their aircraft in red and white, has just completed 25 years.

Concept :

• Surya Kiran (“Rays of the Sun”) is an aerobatics demonstration team of the Indian Air Force. The Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) was formed in 1996 and are a part of the 52nd Squadron of the IAF.
• The squadron was composed of the HAL HJT-16 Kiran Mk.2 military trainer aircraft till 2011 and were based at the Bidar Air Force Station in Karnataka.
• It was revived in 2015 with Hawk trainers initially with four aircraft and grew to the nine aircraft formation.
• Since its inception, the SKAT team has carried out over 600 displays all around the country, it has also represented India across southeast Asia including China.

1971 Commemorations:

• Marking the golden jubilee year of the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, the SKAT team has been flying different formations over landmarks across the country starting from Kanyakumari in the south.