Despite the advent of modern technology and guiding systems, naval aviation remains among the riskiest services

Soldiering is extremely risky business, even without the escalation to a full-fledged war. The unpredictable vagaries of nature, machines, circumstances and the operating turf combine to test the warrior at each step – it is from that fount of perennial uncertainty that the military families silently invoke, “We wait. We hope. We pray. Until you’re home again.” The truism of the daily dangers that beset a warrior’s life manifested in the tragic incident of Indian Navy’s MiG-29K, which went down over the Arabian Sea. While one of the pilots was immediately rescued, the other, instructor Commander Nishant Singh, had remained untraceable. Tragically and finally, the family, squadron and the other loved ones of Commander Nishant Singh were joined in their prayers by a grateful nation, in the poignant moment of necessary “closure”, as the news of a body believed to be his was recovered from high seas after 11 days of relentless search.

In an ode to the timeless spirit of “I will never leave a comrade behind,” which underpins the sacred ethos of all warriors, the Indian Navy launched intensive search operations, deploying nine warships, 14 aircraft and fast interceptor craft.

Even among the comity of warriors, the naval aviators are cut from a brazenly different cloth, as they earn their swaggering-flyer mystique owing to the inherent dangers and glory that accompany their professional calling. These very few men and women manage the additional complexity of landing their machines on a moving aircraft carrier deck by snagging the “tailhook” to arresting high-tensile wires, after having approached the deck at exactly the right angle. Then the pilot counterintuitively pushes the engines to full power, in order to stop. All strategising and coordination has to happen in a matter of seconds. The complexities, the adrenaline rush and the dangers are simply unmatched.

Despite the advent of modern technology and guiding systems, naval aviation remains among the riskiest services. The soul of a true naval aviator is forged amid that trying loneliness of flying over the endless azure of daytime or the haunting darkness of the open ocean at night – either way tempering mind into steel so that when that split second critical decision is required, it is done to perfection. These rare warriors need to combine the multiple dimensions of sea, air and land, simultaneously.

Conversely the extreme pressures of job also lead to unique personalities that typify naval aviators. Ironically, it was Nishant who had jumped into popular imagination with a now-famous letter written to his senior, seeking permission to “bite the bullet (get married).” Nishant had asked tongue-in-cheek, “I regret to be dropping this bomb on you at such a short notice, but as you would agree, I intend to drop a nuclear one on myself and I realise that just like all the split second decisions we take up in the air in the heat of combat, I cannot afford to allow myself the luxury to re-evaluate my decision,” he wrote and had serendipitously added, “I promise to never repeat such a performance in air or teach it to my trainee pilots.” His Commanding Officer, another naval aviator, had matched Nishant’s good-humoured (albeit, private communication) with, “But all the good things have to finally come to an end” and recorded his acquiescence with jest, “welcome to hell!” Certainly, no one had imagined or ever assumed the “end” to imply death. Beyond the obvious camaraderie and the classic flamboyance and élan of naval aviators, there is also the human side of warriors who cherish nothing more than home and family, above all. Very often, owing to ignorance or sheer lack of concern, the citizenry forgets the dangers that are inherent, routine and unimaginable on land, air and sea, in the course of maintaining the sovereignty of the nation, which could lead to the payment of the “ultimate price” in the discharge of military duties.

It was to its home base at INS Hansa, Goa, that the all-weather, carrier-based, multi-role fighter aircraft, i.e. MiG-29K, was flying back from the aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya. Part of the Indian Navy’s famed “Black Panther” squadron, this has been the third accident involving the MiG-29K fighter in the last one year, albeit, this entailed the trainer two-seater variant. Last November, a trainer crashed in Goa after engine failure due to a bird hit. Both pilots ejected safely. In February,  a MiG-29K on a routine training sortie crashed off Goa due to technical glitch. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered. Of course, the aircraft has reported glitches in the past and in other countries though the Navy has rectified the engine. Hopefully, going forward, operational deficiencies will be looked at much more keenly before acquisitions.

But while the armed forces will never forget its own in Commander Nishant Singh, it will persevere whatever the odds, as they do not know of any other way, except to fight the odds, everyday. The flyers have a unique tradition of honouring their fallen pilots with flying in a “missing man formation.” Last year, the Indian Air Force Chief himself led a group of MiG-21s to give a symbolically moving aerial salute through the “missing man formation” to honour the valour and supreme sacrifices of its pilots at Kargil.

The pain of not knowing the fate and hoping-against-hope that the family of Commander Nishant Singh had to endure for all of 11 days is of indescribable magnitude but it ends now. The author too had a family elder, Lt Bikram Singh Rathore of 6 Kumaon, who took the “last stand” in the fierce Battle of Walong in 1962. At 22, the lionheart had fought till last man, last bullet. The noble warrior had stoutly refused to surrender or retreat, and towards the same action Time magazine famously noted, “At Walong, Indian troops lacked everything. The only thing they did not lack was guts.” Lt Bikram Singh Rathore was last seen dragged away by the Chinese, never to be afforded a “closure” for the family as the official status is “missing, believed killed.” Such are the ways of the profession of arms that seldom does a warrior outlive a couple of chances, yet the soldiers will always back their instincts and take calculated chances to fight another day. “I’ve got you back” is a reassurance they convey each other but for now, the nation mourns its naval aviator, Commander Nishant Singh, who will remain symbolically the “missing man” for his family, squadron and the nation.

(The author is former Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands & Puducherry)