Hawker Hunter aerial kills

[Pilot]

Greetings all,

this great British jet fighter have served in many countries and very long time. Did this plane ever enagged in combat and score some victories?

Cheers :)

[Ruy Horta]

At least Jordanian Hunters saw action. Didn't the Indian AF deploy Hunters as well, which would have seen action against Pakistan?

[Pilot]

Good point about India- I almost forget their conflict with Pakistan!!

[Franek Grabowski]

Did not Pakistani fly Jordanian Hunters against Israel?

[keith A]

I think the only victories were claimed in the Six-day war (1967) and the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965. Have a look at Allan Magnus's Air Aces homepage, or the ACIG database.

[Pilot]

Keith- do you have direct link? Hope it is not problem to share this info.

Cheers :)

[Leendert]

Some Hunter claims mentioned here: http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_436.shtml

Regards,

Leendert

[Pilot]

Great link Leendert!!!

[keith A]

Leendert you are weird! We seem to have the same interests across all the forums! Incidentally I found more pilots who flew in the Congo... interested?

regards

Keith

[Pilot]

Congo?

[JACK COOK]

Interesting thread.
We had a good friend who was a retired IAF Wing Cdr. named Bharht Carl Singh who flew Hunters while leading the IAF acrobatic team. He also flew Gnats and MIG-21s and scored 2 kills in the 1965 war against Pakistan while commanding 2 Squadron. He recieved a medal called theVir Charka.

[Pilot]

On which airplanes he get air kill's?

[JaganP]

Hunter Air Combat Kills from India

Six Claims in the 1965 India Pakistan War
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/Misc/Kill1965.html


Nine Claims in the 71 India Pakistan War
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/Misc/Kill1971.html

(http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/Misc/Kill19715.html)

(Note page shows 10 - but one of the above is incorrect).

Jack, great to know you are a friend of Gp Capt Bharat Singh. He is a legend in the IAF. His aerial kill was on a Folland Gnat

Reg Pakistani pilots - one of the pilots (who later went to Bangladesh Air Force) - Gp Capt Saiful Azam has three kills in a Hunter, including a notable kill against a Mirage III over H-2 airfield

[mars]

Recommand you guys an excellent book in which gives a very details account of the operation of the Hunter in the 1965 India Pakistan War
"The India-Pakistan Air War of 1965" by P.V.S Jagan Mohan and Samir Chopra

[JACK COOK]

"Jack, great to know you are a friend of Gp Capt Bharat Singh. He is a legend in the IAF. His aerial kill was on a Folland Gnat"

It's been years since he moved back to India. I honestly have no recollection has to what brought him to Salem, Oregon. I recall he worked for the State Government. Most of the pictures I had of him burned in a fire inc my autographed photo of him in his flying gear next to a Gnat. But here's one that survived. I'd enjoy finding more out of his military career and regain contact if he's still with us.
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj241/jaepton/ColSignhandHunterSquadron.jpg
W/C Carl Singh (standing 7th from right) and his Hunter pilots

[JACK COOK]

BTW I also recall him saying that in the 71 war with Pakistan he downed a F-104 while flying a MIG-21. Is there any record on this claim??

[NickM]

Guys:

Kind of off topic, but what did the pilots who flew the Hunter in combat think of it? It's a beautiful plane for sure & certainly very aerodynamic & well armed but what about other factors like speed, maneuverability, survivability etc?

Thanks ahead of time;

nickm

[AlanReid]

Sorry, a late addition to this thread ...

This is a great account of the exploits of Pakistani pilot Flt Lt Saif-ul-Azam while flying with the Jordanians and Iraqis during the Six Day War ...

http://www.pakdef.info/pakmilitary/airforce/war/golanwar2.html

Responsible for a remarkable three IAF kills while flying Hunters ... Mystere, Vantour and Mirage III ... !

[DiegoZampini]

Dear Jack:

BTW I also recall him saying that in the 71 war with Pakistan he downed a F-104 while flying a MIG-21. Is there any record on this claim??

Mmmm... Unfortunately so far there is no record of his claim. According to IAF official web site and the researcher PVS Jagan Mohan, those were the aerial kills claimed by MiG-21 pilots during the 1971 War:
*12.12.1971 - Bharat B. Soni (No.47 Sqn, flying MiG-21PF S/N C705), shot down the F-104A of Mervyn H. Middlecoat (No.9 Sqn PAF, KIA).
*16.12.1971 - S. B. "Sam" Shah (No.29 Sqn), claimed F-6 (not confirmed by PAF).
*17.12.1971 - Iqbal Singh Bindra (No.29 Sqn), claimed F-104 (not confirmed by PAF).
*17.12.1971 - Arun K. Datta (No.29 Sqn), shot down the F-104A of Samad Ali Changezi (No.9 Sqn PAF, KIA).
*17.12.1971 - Niraj "Kuki" Kukreja (No.29 Sqn), claimed F-104 (not confirmed by PAF).
If he made a claim for shooting down a Starfighter, so far it seems that the PAF considered the evidence insufficient, and threw the claim away.
The PAF admitts the loss of another Starfighter on 6.12.1971 (Amjad Hussain, KIA), apparently by AAA. It would be interesting to research if Bharat Singh made his claim on that day.
I hope this information helps you.
Kind regards,
Diego Zampini

[DiegoZampini]

Alan:

Sorry, a late addition to this thread ...

This is a great account of the exploits of Pakistani pilot Flt Lt Saif-ul-Azam while flying with the Jordanians and Iraqis during the Six Day War ...

http://www.pakdef.info/pakmilitary/airforce/war/golanwar2.html

Responsible for a remarkable three IAF kills while flying Hunters ... Mystere, Vantour and Mirage III ... !

Certainly is quite likely that he scored those victories (all admitted by the IDF/AF), which would be of course quite an impressive achievement (even the Israelis admitt that these raids against the Iraqi airbase of H3 were a disaster). But take into account that is not certain if he scored all of them, because the RJAF credits those same victories to Ihsan Surdom (later CinC of the RJAF in the 1980s), and the Iraqis credit them to one of theirs (I don't recall his name now).
Cheers,
Diego Zampini