Brief on Indian Air Force Heritage Centre, Chandigarh to be Inaugurated on 08 May, 2023

The country's first Indian Air Force Heritage Centre spanning 17000 sq ft area is set up in Govt Press Building, Sector 18, Chandigarh to preserve the rich heritage of the Indian Air Force and to inspire the young minds to join the Armed Forces.

On the instruction and after approval of 'Raksha Mantri', on 03 June 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding on the heritage centre was signed between the Chandigarh administration and the Indian Air Force in the presence of Shri Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Punjab and Administrator of UT Chandigarh. Work services for setting of IAF heritage centre commenced in Oct 2022.

The centre reflects the role of IAF in various wars through murals & memorabilia and is equipped with informative exhibits like augmented reality, virtual reality,hologram, flying simulators, aero engines, electro mechanical enclosures, multimedia and interactive Kiosks highlighting various facets of the IAF.

The main attractions of the heritage centre are five vintage aircraft and SAM-III Pechora missiles safe guarding the Indian sky since decades. Air Force "Kanpur-l" is installed inside the centre, which was designed and built by Late Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh VSM-I MBE in 1958. This aircraft is a testimony to be seen as a moment of glory for future generations to understand the significance of self-reliance, innovation and dream of 'Make in India'. A GNAT aircraft (Sabre Slayer) 1971 Fame is displayed on the main 'Chowraha' of the city and vintage aircraft like MiG-21, HPT-32, MiG-23 are installed in the centre which will serve as popular tourist attraction in the Tricity.

This centre displays the glorious history of IAF with the help of murals depicting various war campaigns of IAF starting with the role of IAF in Indo-Pak war of 1948 to electro mechanical 3D-Dioramas depicting the latest operations of IAF such as the Balakot Strike. An augmented reality enclosure and a virtual reality enclosure will give the visitors a 3D real-time experience in the theme of the historic battle of Longewala. An audio-visual gallery will present the journey of IAF through time, tracing its evolution from its inception to the modern day as well as promotional movies on IAF. Holographic projection depicting aircraft interceptions and various aircraft on inventory of IAF will also be shown.

The centre has scale models from the republic day tableau on display such as indigenous Tejas fighter aircraft, Prachand helicopter and AEW&C Netra aircraft as IAF initiative towards the vision of the "Atmanirbhar Bharat".

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