The South Western Air Command is one of the five operational commands of the Indian Air Force

Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...

. It was raised in Jodhpur

Jodhpur

Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...

 in July 1980 from the No.1 Operations group of the Western Air Command

Western Air Command, Indian Air Force

The Western Air Command is the regional command of Indian Air Force headquartered in New Delhi. It is the largest and most important Air Command of the IAF, comprising sixteen Air Force Bases , and is responsible for aerial defence of North India....

. Its operations sector includes most of Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

, through Gujarat and Saurashtra, as far south as Kutch and Poona. The SWAC moved to its current headquarters in Gandhinagar in May 1998, and incorporates the Indian airbases of Bhuj

Bhuj

Bhuj is a city and a municipality in Kachchh district in the state of Gujarat, India.-History:It was established by Rao Hamirji in 1510 and was made the state capital by Rao Khengarji I in 1549. Its foundation stone as state capital laid formally on Vikram Samvat 1604 Maagha 5th...

, Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer

Jaysalmer , nicknamed "The Golden City", is a town in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital Jaipur. It was once known as Jaisalmer state. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain...

, Naliya

Naliya

Naliya is an town, which is also Taluka headquarter of Abdasa Tauka of Kutch District of Gujarat, India.It is located on Western end of Kutch at a distance of 17 km from ancient port of Jakhau....

, Jamnagar

Jamnagar

Jamnagar is a city and a municipal corporation in Jamnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city was built up substantially by Maharaja Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji in the 1920s, when the district was known as Nawanagar. The district lies just to the south of the Gulf of Kutch and is...

, Jodhpur

Jodhpur

Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...

, Uttarlai/Barmer

Barmer, Rajasthan

Barmer is the headquarters of the Barmer district in the state of Rajasthan, India. It is a city and a municipality.-Origin of name:...

 and Poona. It controls air operations in the south western air sector, which includes most of Rajasthan, and south through Gujarat to Saurashtra, and Kutch to Pune. It also operates the forward airbases at Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...

, Nal

NAL

Nal may refer to:* Nál, or Laufey a goddess in Norse mythology* Nal Airport, Airport in Rajasthan, India* Nal, Balochistan, a town in Balochistan, Pakistan* Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Bird Sanctuary in Gujarat, India...

, Suratgarh

Suratgarh

For tehil see Suratgarh tehsil Suratgarh is a city and a municipality in Ganganagar district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.-Geography:Suratgarh is located at . It has an average elevation of 168 metres  feet-Demographics:...

 and . The SWAC's role has historically been largely of air defence, although it has been reported to have incorporated a strike profile.

Units

SWAC squadrons include:

Squadron	Base	Equipment	Notes
No. 5 Squadron IAF	Uttarlai, Barmer Barmer Barmer may refer to the following places:*Barmer district, a district of Rajasthan state, India**Barmer , a Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency of Rajasthan**Barmer, Rajasthan, a city in Barmer district... , Rajasthan Rajasthan Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...	Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek by Polish pilots due to...	5 FBSU
No. 6 Squadron IAF	Jamnagar	SEPECAT Jaguar SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet ground attack aircraft, originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Armée de l'Air in the close air support and nuclear strike role, and still in service with several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force...  IM/IS/IT	No. 33 Wing
No. 10 Squadron IAF	Jodhpur	Mikoyan MiG-27MU	No. 32 Wing IAF
No. 11 Squadron IAF	Vadodara Vadodara Airport Vadodara Airport or Civil Airport Harni is a civilian airport located in the north-east of Vadodara, Gujarat, India in the suburb of Harni....	BAe HS. 748	No. 36 Wing IAF
No. 15 Squadron IAF	Bhuj AFS	MiG-21bis	No. 27 Wing IAF
No. 20 Squadron IAF	Poona/Lohegaeon	Sukhoi Su-30MKI	No. 2 Wing IAF
No. 25 Squadron IAF	Vadodara Vadodara Airport Vadodara Airport or Civil Airport Harni is a civilian airport located in the north-east of Vadodara, Gujarat, India in the suburb of Harni....	Antonov An-32 Antonov An-32 The Antonov An-32 is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft.-Design and development:The An-32 is basically a re-engined An-26. The launch customer was the Indian Air Force, which ordered this aircraft partly due to good relations between then USSR leader Leonid Brezhnev and then...	No. 36 Wing IAF
No. 28 Squadron IAF	Jamnagar	Mikoyan MiG-29 Mikoyan MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 is a fourth-generation jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union for an air superiority role. Developed in the 1970s by the Mikoyan design bureau, it entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1983, and remains in use by the Russian Air Force as well as in many other...	No. 33 Wing
No. 29 Squadron IAF	Jodhpur Jodhpur Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...	Mikoyan MiG-27 Mikoyan MiG-27 The Mikoyan MiG-27 is a variable-geometry ground-attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan design bureau in the Soviet Union and later license-produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics as the Bahadur . It is based on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 fighter aircraft, but optimized for... MU	No. 32 Wing IAF
No. 30 Squadron IAF	Poona/Lohegaeon	Sukhoi Su-30MKI	No. 2 Wing IAF
No. 32 Squadron IAF	Jodhpur	Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek by Polish pilots due to...	No. 32 Wing IAF
No. 37 Squadron IAF	Jodhpur	Mikoyan MiG-27M	No. 32 Wing
No. 45 Squadron IAF	Raedhanpur - Naliya Naliya Naliya is an town, which is also Taluka headquarter of Abdasa Tauka of Kutch District of Gujarat, India.It is located on Western end of Kutch at a distance of 17 km from ancient port of Jakhau....  AFS	Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek by Polish pilots due to... bis	12 FBSU
No. 101 Squadron IAF	Raedhanpur - Naliya Naliya Naliya is an town, which is also Taluka headquarter of Abdasa Tauka of Kutch District of Gujarat, India.It is located on Western end of Kutch at a distance of 17 km from ancient port of Jakhau....  AFS	Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek by Polish pilots due to... M	12 FBSU

It also operates a maritime attack squadron. The squadrons that form the SWAC include those operating MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-29 and Su-30. The maritime attack squadron operates Jaguar IM.

External links

• Bharat-Rakshak.com, IAF COMMAND STRUCTURE