New Delhi: The government is likely to confer the Vir Chakra on IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 during a dogfight over LoC earlier this year.
Besides, five Mirage-2000 fighter pilots who dropped bombs on the JeM terror facility in Balakot are set to be awarded the Vayu Sena medal for gallantry, Hindustan Times reported.
Varthaman had downed a Pakistani F-16, seconds before his own MiG-21 Bison was hit by a missile forcing him to eject. The IAF pilot was captured after he bailed, but Pakistan returned him to India on March 1 after holding him captive for almost 60 hours.
During his captivity, Varthaman showed courage and grace in handling the most difficult circumstances for which he was praised by politicians, strategic affairs experts, ex-servicemen, celebrities and people in general.
The February 27 dogfight took place a day after the Mirage-2000s struck targets in Balakot in response to the Pulwama suicide attack in Kashmir in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed on February 14.
Vir Chakra is India’s third-highest wartime gallantry award, after the Param Vir Chakra and the Maha Vir Chakra.
Earlier on February 26, the Mirage pilots struck targets in Balakot with Israeli-origin Spice 2000 bombs with penetrator warheads that allowed them to pierce through the rooftops before exploding inside to cause maximum damage.
“If the awards are being announced on Independence Day, it will be an acknowledgement of the professionalism and courage displayed by the fighter pilots in missions where stakes were very high,” Hindustan Times quoted Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd) as saying.
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