The accomplishments of service personnel are rarely acknowledged or are known to others unless they stand up to be counted. One such case is that of Wing Commander N. Somasekhar Rao (retired), who modified the Hunter aircraft in the aftermath of 1965 war with Pakistan to turn it into a more fearsome weapon. He has chronicled his success story in great detail in his ‘An Engineers Innovation’ (sic).
“The key is the idea. I had a eureka moment and then worked on it for five months after the approval of IAF officials,” says the retired Wg. Cdr. Rao who joined the force as a pilot officer.
The author gives a blow-by-blow account of the approval for his modification and also how it was useful in the Eastern Sector during the 1971 war. “Due to my modifications, our Hunter aircraft could travel deeper into the enemy area and bomb. It created an element of surprise for the enemy who didn’t know our planes could go so deep into their territory,” he says. “The changes in the aircraft made by me were extensive ranging from instrumentation to gyro gun-sights,” adds the retired Wg. Cdr., who later worked with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
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