Originally the base was home to a squadron each of
MiG-23s single-engine fighters and
MiG-27s single-engine ground-attack aircraft. After the 1965 war,
No. 7 Squadron IAF moved to Hindon along with
Hawker Hunters, and stayed here till 1969, when it moved to
Bagdogra in
West Bengal, subsequently during the
East Pakistan Operations 1971 it flew in on 6 December 1971. Prior to the
No. 3 Squadron moved here in July 1971 and was operating
Mystère IVAs at the time. After the war it moved back to Hindon, until it shifted base to
Pathankot in 1975. In the mid-1980s, it was identified by ornithologist Dr.
Salim Ali among the 10 air bases in India prone to
bird hits, due to the presence of slaughterhouses and dumping grounds in its vicinity being close to the
Ghaziabad industrial city. In the coming years, the number of accidents increased. Finally in 1997, when three plane crashes occurred within a span of few days, Hindon was abandoned as a fighter base and remained home to
Avros and
Mi-17 helicopters and transport aircraft in the following years, apart from being used by the IAF Aircrew Examination Board. However, in 2003, with growing terrorist threats, its importance as a strategic air base to provide air cover to the capital was realised, as Hindon-based fighters could reach the skies over New Delhi within five minutes as compared to the 15-plus minutes it would take from other closest bases, namely
Sirsa Air Force Station,
Ambala Air Force Base and
Chandigarh Air Force Station, and thus Hindon was reactivated and area around it was cleaned up. September 2005, saw Air Chief Marshal
S.P. Tyagi becoming the first Chief of Air Staff to earn para wings while in office, as he finished his fifth and final para jump at Air Force Station Hindon. In 2006, Indian Air Force shifted its 74th-anniversary celebration venue from
Palam Airport in Delhi, to Hindon to avoid airspace closure for commercial traffic, where the Air Force Day Parade cum investiture ceremony was held on 8 October, and an air display by 66 aircraft. This also gave the IAF aircraft more air space during the air show, till then was uses primarily as a helicopter base. After that it has become an annual event at the station. On 1 June 2007, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal
F. H. Major flagged off a
microlight expedition, part of the IAF's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, aiming to creating a record by completing the expedition, Around the World in 80 Days. Wing Commanders Rahul Monga and Anil Kumar reached Hindon back on 19 August, and covering 40,497 km in 80 days they achieved a speed of 21.092 km/h thus beating the previous record of 16.53 km/h set by Colin Bodil of the U.K. in 2001. Although the FAI ( Fédération Aéronautique Internationale - world governing body for air sports, aeronautics and astronautics world records) has denied their claim as both the pilots and the Indian Air Force could not furnish any proof for such a feat. In 2007, when the
Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) launched a pilot project to test joint management of the airspace, Hindon was opened to civilian flights, though its open for flights only during stipulated hours of the day. After the
26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks IAF moved
MiG-29s to the air base in order "to protect the capital from aerial threats." Hindon was amongst nine airfields in the Western Air Command (WAC) for the Modernization of Air Field Infrastructure programme (MAFI), started in 2009. Due its proximity to the Delhi, work at the station which included equipping it with sensitive radars was to commence first. This work completed in 2011 when the first of six
C-130J Hercules tactical transport aircraft arrived from the US. Hindon was designated to become home base for these aircraft and for this purpose, the Hindon runway was extended and modern hangars, servicing and operations facilities suitable for the C-130J aircraft were added. Hindon currently hosts 18 C-130J's. In June 2011, the IAF signed a contract with the USAF to purchase 10
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III's. With the No. 81 Squadron bed down, the contract includes a dual-bay hangar, squadron operations facility, and other facilities and utilities to support aircraft operations. Deliveries began in June 2013 and are to continued through December 2014.
Historical use •
No. 5 Squadron IAF –
Jaguar IS/IB •
No. 14 Squadron IAF – Jaguar IS/IB •
No. 23 Squadron IAF –
MiG-21 bis •
No. 24 Squadron IAF – MiG-21 bis The
Garud Commando Force of the Indian Air Force are trained at this base. ==Civil Enclave==