This book is the first in a series of books detailing wartime operations of the Indian Air Force (IAF). It provides a history of air component of a war triggered by Pakistan’s invasion of Kashmir in 1965. As tank and artillery battles raged on the ground, a fierce battle was waged in the skies: pilots made daring daylight and night-time raids and air combat took place at low altitudes in high performance aircraft. The war ended inconclusively, but the IAF learned lessons which made possible the highly successful campaign to liberate East Pakistan in 1971.

Based on interviews with IAF war veterans, squadron diaries and never before published photographs including gun camera photos, this book tells for the first time, stories of air battles and raids that have acquired legendary status in the IAF but have not been published for a larger audience. With the publication of this volume, the story of the 1965 war can finally be told and a more complete understanding of air warfare in the twentieth century is possible.