AFVOA Newsletter of Year 2021

Section 5 – War Diary CV 2 No. 01 / 2021 Page 54 of 123 2 Saving Fish Oil : Battle of Amristar Radar 1965 Col Mandeep Singh Genre: War Diary n September 6, 1965, Pakistan put into effect its War Plan No 6 with the aim of targeting Indian Air Force bases and installations. Launched at 17:40 hours, Pakistan Air Force F-86 Sabres attacked Pathankot air base, destroying ten Indian aircraft on ground and damaging three more. This was followed by raids on Halwara and Adampur but these two were a failure as Pakistan Air Force could not do any damage and lost two F-86 Sabres in the air. Included at the top of the list of installations to be targeted by Pakistan Air Force was, the radar at Amritsar. The P-30(M) radar of Soviet origin was operated by 230 Signal unit and was the most important radar of Indian Air Force deployed in Punjab, its location near to the International Border (IB) giving it the ability to look deep inside Pakistan and provide the much need early warning to the frontline Indian Air Forces bases including Pathankot, Adampur and Halwara. Designated as ‘Target Alpha’ by Pakistan Air Force, its call sign was Fish Oil. The Signal Unit was commanded by Wing Commander Krishna Dandapani, a fighter pilot and providing air defence to the radar was a battery of 45 Air Defence Regiment equipped with World War II vintage 40mm L/60 AA Guns. In addition, a troop of 19 Air Defence Regiment equipped with four of the more modern radar-controlled 40mm L/70 AA Guns was also earmarked for the defence of the radar. 19 Air Defence Regiment was still in the process of conversion to the new 40mm L/70 AA Guns when the war had broken out and only about a Battery worth had converted to the new guns. Pakistan Air Force had earmarked six F-86 Sabres for the planned attack on the radar but as Sargodha, the launch pad for the raid against Amritsar did not have the requisite number of F-86 Sabres, Pakistan Air Force had moved additional twelve F-86s from Mauripur. Unfortunately for them, the move of F-86s from Mauripur not only got O