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''Surya Kiran'' ("Sun Rays") is an aerobatics demonstration team of the Indian Air Force. The Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) was formed in 1996 to serve as the "Ambassadors of the Indian Air Force" and to "showcase the professionalism, the caliber and the mettle of the Indian Air Force". The team has since performed numerous demonstrations in various parts of the country and abroad, and was amongst the renowned nine-aircraft public display aerobatic teams in the world. The squadron was primarily composed of the HAL HJT-16 Kiran Mk.2 military trainer aircraft and are based at the Bidar Air Force Station in Karnataka. The team was suspended in February 2011 due to shortage of basic jet trainers in IAF after grounding of HPT-32 trainers. Air Chief Marshall P.V. Naik said that Surya Kiran will upgrade to the BAE Hawk in 2015.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/iaf-to-buy-for-20-more-hawk-ajts-for-aerobatics/1002542/ )〕 ==History== Formation aerobatics is not new to the IAF. As early as 1944, the IAF had a display flight and later a few ad hoc teams carried out aerobatic displays on special occasions such as the Air Force Day parade and firepower demonstrations. During the golden jubilee year of the IAF in 1982, handpicked fighter pilots from various squadrons formed an aerobatic team for the IAF called ‘The Thunderbolts’. Flying blue and white Hunter fighter bomber, this team captivated audiences for about a decade and it gave its last public display in 1989. The experience gained from the Thunderbolts was put to good use by a four-aircraft team called the Formation Aerobatic Team, set up in Bidar in 1990 on Kiran-II trainers. Though the team did not give any public displays, it ensured that formation aerobatic skills were maintained in the IAF. In early 1996, serious planning began for AVIA-96, the first major air show and aviation trade event ever hosted in India. The organisers’ initial intention was to invite an aerobatic team from overseas, but some senior IAF officers were confident that the world’s fourth largest air force would be able to field its own team. This formed the genesis of the present team, the Surya Kiran, meaning rays of the sun. In May 1996, Wg Cdr Kuldeep Malik, who as a Flight Lieutenant had been a member of the ‘Thunderbolts’, and who was then serving as an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, was moved to Bidar, with instructions to raise a new aerobatic team. The pioneer team comprised Sqn Ldr A K Murgai, Sqn Ldr V K Khorana, Sqn Ldr S Prabhakaran, Sqn Ldr A R Gore, Sqn Ldr R K Obheroi, Sqn Ldr N Kanitkar, Sqn Ldr P K Vohra, Flt Lt T. Sharma, Flt Lt K Prem Kumar and Flt Lt K.K. Dubey.〔 The Surya Kiran Formation Aerobatic Team (SKAT) flew its first 6 aircraft formation sortie on 27 May 96 at AF Stn Bidar. During these early months the team flew overtime, graduating from aerobatics in four-aircraft box formation to six-aircraft in shockwave formation. The first six-aircraft formation took wings on August 8, 1996. There were two manoeuvres which the team finally managed to get through with a little bit of trouble. The first was the Goblet roll and the other the Tango roll — the latter incidentally was a historic first for the IAF because even the famed Thunderbolts did not do this manoeuvre. Soon the SKATs were tasked to carry out their first public display — a flawless six-aircraft display for the golden jubilee celebrations of Air Force Administrative College, Coimbatore. on September 15, 1996, that was highly appreciated by all those who witnessed it. In 1998, with Wg Cdr A K Murgai as the CO, the team expanded to a nine-aircraft formation. Considering the team was just two years old, it was no small achievement. The team first displayed a formation of nine-aircraft during the Independence Day fly past over the Red Fort in 1998. The first full fledged nine-aircraft aerobatic display was to follow at Palam on October 8, 1998, to mark Air Force Day.〔 In November 1999, the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows aerobatic team was transiting through India en route to Australia. The Surya Kiran team was at Hindon to interact with them and a lucky few managed a sortie in the Hawk. Three months later the French aerobatic team ‘''Patrouille de France''’ was at Pune and the two teams met and flew some sorties in the Alpha jet. An interaction between the two teams resulted in the SKAT adopting the "Synchro" manoeuvre. This raised their standard a couple of notches and added more colour to its displays. The first synchro sequence was displayed during the Combined Graduation Parade at Air Force Academy in June 2000.〔 The team has carried out over 500 displays in 72 cities across the country, from Srinagar in the north to Tiruvananthapuram in the south and from Naliya, the western-most air station, to Chabua, the country’s easternmost airfield. Srinagar, at an altitude of 5436 feet is the highest airfield from which it has operated, when it performed over Dal Lake in July 2003. Flying over sea is the toughest as the vast, flat expanse of water affects depth perception. It has also performed in the capitals of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore. On completion of a decade of precision formation aerobatics, the Surya Kiran, the youngest nine-aircraft aerobatic team in the world, was conferred with Squadron status. With effect from May 1, 2006, the team became IAF’s No. 52 Squadron.〔 After the performance in Bengaluru in February 2011, the Surya Kirans were grounded because the Air Force faced a severe shortage of training aircraft. In 2015, the Surya Kirans, is all set to take to the skies once again with the induction of the British Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer, being assembled in India by the state-run HAL. 〔http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/surya-kiran-aerobatic-squadron-of-air-force-to-return-to-dare-devilry-739895?utm_source=ndtv&utm_medium=top-stories-widget&utm_campaign=story-4-http%3a%2f%2fwww.ndtv.com%2findia-news%2fsurya-kiran-aerobatic-squadron-of-air-force-to-return-to-dare-devilry-739895〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Surya Kiran」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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