Abhinandan Varthaman, Balakot Pilots to Get Top Military Honours

In February, Varthaman made history by downing an F-16, seconds before his own MiG-21 Bison was hit.

File image of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who shot down a Pakistani F-16 during an encounter over the Line of Control (LoC) on 27 February, and the Mirage 2000 pilots involved in the operation at Balakot are expected to be awarded top military honours soon, two officials confirmed on Wednesday, 7 August.

Varthaman is likely to be awarded a Vir Chakra for his exploits, and the five Mirage-2000 fighter aces who dropped bombs on Jaish-e-Mohammed’s terror facility, the Vayu Sena Medal for gallantry, said one the officials cited above.

In February this year, Varthaman, then 35, had made history by downing an F-16, seconds before his own MiG-21 Bison was hit by a missile forcing him to eject.

Experts had hailed it as the first ever kill of an F-16 by a MiG-21 Bison, as both fighter jets belong to two different generations. Varthaman was captured by Pakistan after he bailed out of the aircraft. On 1 March, Pakistan returned him to India after holding him captive for almost 60 hours.

Vir Chakra is India's third-highest wartime gallantry award, after the Param Vir Chakra and the Maha Vir Chakra.

Varthaman is recovering from ejection-related injuries and is likely to undergo a series of tests in the coming months at the Bengaluru-based Institute of Aerospace Medicine that will have to give him final clearance for flying again, the second official, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Earlier in April, the Indian Air Force recommended Varthaman’s name for the Vir Chakra honour.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times)