Surya Kiran’s Gun Pod is now the storage for the tricolour dyes

Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team adds tricolour smoke to dazzling air displays, enhancing patriotism and excitement across India.

The dazzling manoeuvres in the air by the Bidar-based Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team (SKAT) during the Aero India has a new addition this time. The clear blue sky in Bengaluru has been lit by the tricolour from the Hawk MK 132 aircraft, a feature that the SKAT has incorporated since September 2024 in the air show at Jodhpur.

For long, the team had the limitation of using white smoke released through a hose on the wing and despite requests, the colours could not be added. However, ingenious Indian Air Force personnel at the Nasik -based 11 Base Repair Depot took 13 months to perfect the colours by using the Gun Pod in the aircraft’s belly to fit a pump to emit colour dyes.

“The existing system was not capable of emitting colour smoke since dyes could not be used. There was a demand from the IAF top brass and public to add tricolour into the display since aerobatic teams of many countries are already using colours to add value to the air display,” an IAF official, who worked on the project, told The Hindu.

The experimentation on the dye to get the colours, duration and system functioning well took 13 months to arrive at the current situation. “The Gun Pod in the aircraft was already available. Instead of a gun, the pod now has a pump and a tank in which the dye is filled. In the full configuration, it would weigh 198 kg carrying 70 litres of dye,” the official explained. “To bring changes to 12 other aircraft, it took us just three and a half months.”

The dye will last for a total duration of seven minutes as the overall rate of flow is about 1 litre a minute. “Of about 11 to 12 minutes of air display by the SKAT, the dyes will be available for about 7 minutes. We are getting an amazing response to the new addition and the profile of the squadron has changed.”

Since the colour addition, the SKAT has performed in over a dozen cities across India, evoking spirit of patriotism, he added.