Ajay Ahuja, VrC

Biography

Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja was born on 22 May 1963 in the Kota district of Rajasthan. He joined the National Defence Academy as part of its 66th course and was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 14 June 1985. A skilled aviator, he logged over a thousand hours of flying on the MiG-23 and MiG-21, and by 1999 was serving with the 17 Squadron, the 'Golden Arrows'. During the Kargil conflict of 1999, the Indian Air Force launched Operation Safed Sagar in support of ground forces. On 28 May 1999, Squadron Leader Ahuja was flying over the Batalik sector when he volunteered to search for a fellow pilot whose aircraft had been brought down. Pressing on despite the heavy surface-to-air missile threat, he located the crash site, but his own aircraft was then struck by a missile. He ejected safely and transmitted his position, but lost his life in hostile territory. For his courage and supreme sacrifice during Operation Safed Sagar, Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja was posthumously awarded the Vir Chakra.