Operation Safed Sagar was the code name assigned to the Indian Air Force's role in acting jointly with the Indian Army during the 1999 Kargil war that was aimed at flushing out regular and irregular troops of the Pakistani Army from vacated Indian Positions in the Kargil sector along the Line of Control. It was the first large scale use of Airpower in the Jammu and Kashmir region since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
A MiG-23 Bn used in Operation Safed Sagar
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire which honoured India's aviation service during World War II with the prefix Royal. After India gained independence from United Kingdom in 1947, the name Royal Indian Air Force was kept and served in the name of the Dominion of India. With the transition to a republic in 1950, the prefix Royal was removed.
A Westland Wapiti, one of the first aircraft of the Indian Air Force
World War II photo: Arjan Singh (middle) as Flight Lieutenant. He went on to become Marshal of the Air Force
An IAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber over the Deccan plateau in the early 1950s
HAL HF-24 Maruts flying in formation. These were the first indigenous fighter jet to enter service with the IAF
