Falcon Slayers: Indian hero pilot’s squadron gets new patches for F-16 downing denied by Pakistan

New patches of distinction to honor the downing of a Pakistani F-16 by Indian MIG-21s in a tense dogfight in February have been awarded to the Indian Air Force’s 51st Squadron – even though Islamabad firmly denies the loss.

The patch depicts a MIG-21 Bison as the centerpiece with a red-colored F-16 in crosshairs in the background. ‘AMRAAM Dodger’ is written at the top of the design with ‘Falcon Slayer’ inscribed at the bottom.

“Patches instill a sense of pride in not only the present generation of pilots but also future ones. It gives a sense of achievement to the pilot,” Group Captain Anupam Bannerjee said.

Meanwhile, another Indian squadron that flies Sukhoi-30 jets, which also participated in the Pakistani raid, received a patch that portrays an SU-30 dodging AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) used on F-16 jets.

The dogfight between Indian and Pakistani warplanes over the contested border region of Jammu and Kashmir erupted on February 27, following the IAF’s raid on Balakot a day earlier. The raid penetrated deep inside Pakistani territory to strike a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp in retaliation for a terrorist attack on Indian paramilitary forces in the disputed region.

While India lost one of its aircraft in the fight, New Delhi said that hero Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of the 51st Squadron managed to shoot down one of the PAF’s F-16 jets before he was shot down and captured. Pakistan, however, vehemently denies the loss, claiming it didn’t even use the US-supplied plane during the sortie. “No Pakistani F-16 was hit by Indian Air Force,” Pakistan’s military insists.

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