Surya Kirans New Avatar

As reported earlier this year (see Vayu II/2015), the Indian Air Force’s Surya Kirans aerobatic display team has been re-established with new BAE Hawk Mk.132 aircraft. The team made their public debut on Air Force Day 2015 with a four-aircraft display at

The Indian Air Force’s Surya Kirans aerobatic display team has been reestablished with new BAE Hawk Vayu’s

Hindan AFS, October 2015 : The drone of a Pilatus PC-7 trainer fades away at the Air Force Day ‘ Parade Square’ at Hindan Air Force Station as the type’s solo display concludes. Turboprop trainers, helicopters, special operations aircraft, strategic airlifters and frontline fighters have already had their turn in the sky over Hindan, yet it is only now that necks crane and eyes frantically scan the murky haze that unfortunately blankets the national capital region each year around October. Every one of the thousands gathered here are looking eagerly for a flash of sunlight to illuminate the bright red-and-white painted wing of an approaching Hawk jet trainer.

Then suddenly, there they are : four sleek Hawks emerge from the smog in a diamond-shaped formation and the crowd erupts as they begin their display with a pass from left to right at show centre. The Surya Kirans are back ! Established in 1996 as part of No.52 Squadron (‘The Sharks’) based at Bidar AFS in Karnataka, the Surya Kiran (‘Sunbeam’ in Sanskrit) team served for 15 years as representatives of the IAF at home and abroad, and were a vital publicity and outreach asset for the Air Force. Such was (and remains) the strength of the Surya Kiran “brand” that the IAF has elected not to rename the team (there were options aplenty including resurrection of the Thunderbolts and the evocative Tiranga but the consensus was to retain Surya Kiran.

Only the livery has changed, and even there the visual link to the past paint scheme is retained, although the dayglo orange has given way to a richer, darker colour that is closer to red. The scheme itself more closely evokes the meaning of Surya Kiran, with alternating red and white rays emanating from a ‘sun’ painted on the vertical fin. Additional red and white longitudinal stripes near the wingtips and ends of the stabilators add a touch of ‘visual weight’ to extremities of the aircraft.

The team was formally re-established on 16 February 2015, with No. 52 Squadron resuming operations at Bidar.

Six select pilots commenced conversion training on Hawk AJTs toward the end of March. This initial nucleus of the team consisted of three former Surya Kiran pilots, including the CO, Wg Cdr Ajit Kulkarni, who had no prior experience with the Hawk, and three Hawk Qualified Flying Instructors (QFIs) with no prior experience in formation aerobatics. The two groups combined expertise in different areas to ensure a smooth start for the team, and were soon joined by a fourth ex-SKAT pilot to make a total of seven pilots in the team.

Formation aerobatics training – practising for actual display flying – began for the team around July, after all the pilots had achieved the requisite level of experience with the Hawk. At this point, the objective of being able to perform their maiden display at the Air Force Day Parade began to look

increasingly achievable, and despite the monsoon weather that limited training time in the air, the pilots took every opportunity to perfect their four-ship routine. By 8 October 2015, four pilots were fully qualified to fly the formation display, allowing the team’s public debut to proceed as planned.

From here on, the team has planned a measured work-up to a full nine-aircraft display, regaining their status as one of a small handful of aerobatic teams in the world flying with such a large number of aircraft in formation.

At present, the team operates six BAE Hawk Mk.132 aircraft (two for training and reserve) that, unlike the SKAT Kiran Mk.IIs of old, are not functionally modified and therefore remain available for use as regular advanced jet trainers. Of course, they no longer sport the typical IAF grey of their Bidar-based brethren, with the new livery being executed in its entirety - from concept to completion – in a mere 28 days, overseen by Wg Cdr RN Sinha, the team’s Senior Engineering Officer ( SEO). Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) subcontracted the painting of the Surya Kiran aircraft to Bangalorebased firm Matcon, who imported special polyurethane paint from the UK to complete the task to specification.

With aircraft and initial aircrew in place, their short-term goals are simple: display as often and in as many different places as possible. The most basic part of training – transition to the Hawk AJT – is complete for all members of the team. This involved 48 conversion sorties and roughly as many hours of flying for each pilot. The team constantly called on the expertise of their Bidar-based compatriot Hawk units (‘HOTS’) to maintain high levels of safety throughout the conversion programme. All new manoeuvres and routines were initially supervised by the AOC of Bidar AFS as well as the Chief Instructor at the base. Senior ex-SKAT personnel were also attached to audit for safety, which was and remains paramount in the team’s efforts.

Now, Wg Cdr Kulkarni reckons that eight to ten displays in a range of unfamiliar locations will be adequate to get the team accustomed to the rigors of formation flying in varied conditions and make them more adaptable so that they can be comfortable flying their displays anywhere in the country – and indeed the world. After Hindan, the team was slated to display over Mysore in October itself, and is then hoping for opportunities to perform at as many scheduled Air Force events as possible, including such proceedings as passing out parades, awarding of President’s Standards and Unit Citations and a planned firepower demonstration in March next year.

When all seven pilots are fully qualified for the four-ship display and the team is at ease with their aerobatics, training for a six-aircraft display, including a ‘synchro pair,’ will commence. Initially, Wg Cdr Kulkarni estimates that it will take 4 to 6 weeks of dedicated training to transition to what is called a six- ship ‘ composite’

display, which means all six aircraft will display in formation together, much as they did on Air Force Day this year. Only then will the team create and begin training for a more dramatic routine involving a ‘synchro pair,’ which would see two of the six aircraft detach from the main formation and perform a different range of manoeuvres together in between passes by the main formation. These include splits, level and rolling crosses, hesitation rolls, and the ‘heart loop’ made famous by the previous Surya Kiran team. If all goes as planned, the six- aircraft display including the synchro pair will be performed in time for Air Force Day 2016.

The final step, from six aircraft to nine, is “the most difficult” according to Wg Cdr Kulkarni. It will take at least another full year to make this transition, and the transition itself will also be entirely contingent upon delivery of a batch of smoke-capable Hawks. While the present Hawk aircraft in use by the team cannot generate smoke trails like the Kiran Mk.IIs used to, the contract for an additional 20 Hawks specially configured for display flying with the ability to generate white and coloured smoke, so as to allow the Surya Kirans to provide the same visual spectacle they did in the past, is imminent. These definitive SKAT aircraft will likely also see some changes to the livery as inputs from various sources in the intervening years are taken into account.