No.104 Helicopter Squadron Firebirds Motto : Apatsu Mitram (A friend in time of need) Date Raised : 1992-08-25 Location : Suratgarh 104 Helicopter Sqn, AF, known as the "Firebirds" was raised as a Helicopter Flight at Palam on 10 March 1954 and became the first Units of the IAF to be equipped with rotary wing aircraft. it was upgraded to a Units on 01 May 1958 and a Squadron on 25 August 1992. The Units changed bases to Hindan in March 1965 and Saharanpur in May 1976. At this point the role of the Units was changed to ATGM (Anti- Tank Guided Missile) Units and all aircraft were modified to carry four AS11B wire command guided missiles. in April 1990 Units shifted to Bhatinda and was re-quipped with the Mi-35. It moved to its current location in may 1994. Since its inception the squadron has operated the Sikorsky S-55, S-62, Bell 47-G, Mi-4, Alouette-III (Chetak) and the Mi-25/35 attack helicopters.
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Commanding Officers | |||||
Dates | Rank & Name | Number | Remarks | Location | Photo |
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25 Aug 92 to 31 Oct 93 | Wing Commander Pradeep Kumar Mulay | 12935 F(P) | CO | Bhatinda | |
01 Nov 93 to 30 Mar 97 | Wing Commander Sudhir Hooda | 14095 F(P) | CO | Bhatinda/ Suratgarh | |
31 Mar 97 to 04 May 97 | Squadron Leader Jacob James | 16233 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh | |
05 May 97 to 14 Feb 99 | Wing Commander Jacob James | 16233 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh | |
15 Feb 99 to 16 May 99 | Squadron Leader Yogendra Rajora | 17327 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh | |
17 May 99 to 17 Jun 01 | Wing Commander Arun Tillay Samtani | 17002 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh | |
18 Jun 01 to 26 Jun 03 | Wing Commander Sunil Kumar | 17713 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh | |
30 Jun 03 to 07 Mar 06 | Wing Commander Sandesh Prabhakar Wagle | 17710 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh | |
08 Mar 06 to 28 Mar 07 | Group Captain Atanu Guru | 16794 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh | |
29 Mar 07 to 28 Mar 08 | Wing Commander Sanjay Kumar Mittal | 17472 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh | |
29 Mar 08 to 28 Jun 09 | Group Captain Sunil Kumar | 17713 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh | |
29 Jun 09 to 29 Jul 10 | Group Captain Tejinder Singh Sareen | 17138 F(P) | CO | Suratgarh |