New Delhi: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s 51 Squadron will be awarded unit citation by Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria on the air force’s 87th-anniversary celebrations on October 8.
The unit citation will be awarded to the unit for thwarting the Pakistani aerial attack and shooting down its F-16 fighter aircraft on the dogfight of February 27. The award is slated to be received by commanding officer Group Captain Satish Pawar on October 8.
The 9th squadron of the IAF which dropped SPICE 2000 and Popeye precision-guided munitions bombs on the terror facility in Balakot will also be awarded a unit citation, reported ANI.
Squadron Leader Minty Agarwal’s 601 Signal unit will also be awarded for their role in Balakot aerial strikes and foiling the aerial attack by Pakistan on February 27.
India bombed the Jaish camp in Balakot in response to a terror attack in which a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a convoy of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, killing 40 soldiers.
