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No. 44 Squadron
Active	April 1961 - Present
Country	India
Role	Transport
Garrison/HQ	AFS Chandigarh
Nickname(s)	"Mighty Jets"
Motto(s)	Ishtam Yatnen Sadhyetah Achieve Goals with Perseverance
Aircraft flown
Transport	IL-76MD

No. 44 Squadron is a unit of the Indian Air Force assigned to Maintenance Command. The Squadron participates in operations involving air, land and air-drop of troops, equipment, supplies, and support or augment special operations forces, when appropriate.

History

The Squadron undertook extensive air maintenance sorties in the Ladakh and J&K Sectors. This earned the squadron the emblem of "Himalayan Geese" which was formally approved by the then President, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on 26 May 1966.

In 1971 Indo-Pak Conflict, the squadron proved its mettle by innovating and effectively employing AN-12s in the bombing role in the Western theatre. Notably, 44 Squadron is the only transport squadron of the Indian Air Force to be conferred the Battle Honours, a feat otherwise reserved for active operational combat units. No. 44 Squadron has flown relief missions to Sri Lanka and Indonesia during the tsunami disaster, rescuing civilians, and to avalanche victims in Kashmir as well SOS missions to quake-affected Iran.

Lineage

• Constituted as No. 44 Squadron (Mighty Jets) on 6 April 1961
• Designated the emblem of "Himalayan geese" on 26 May 1966

Assignments

• Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
• 1988 Maldives coup d'état
• Battle of Jaffna (1995)
• Hurricane Katrina disaster relief
• 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes

Aircraft

• AN-12 (now obsolete)
• IL-76

References

1. "AWACS, aerial refuellers to shift base to city. Indian Air Force to assign all IL-76 airlifters to one squadron".
2. "Land hitch hits air force base - Plan for IL-76 station at Nagpur dropped after 10-year wait". Archived from the original on 12 March 2018.
3. "President's standard awarded to IAF's 44 Squadron and 110 Helicopter Unit". Meghalayatimes.info. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
4. "IAF's 'Mighty Jets' carry relief to Pakistan". Rediff.com. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
5. "Squadrons and Helicopter Units". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 23 November 2015.

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• 1961 establishments in India
• Indian Air Force aircraft squadrons
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