Independence Day gallantry medals: From top IAF officers and fighter pilots to S-400 operators in Op Sindoor, check full list

The Union government on Thursday announced gallantry awards for officers of the armed forces, including those who played key roles during Operation Sindoor and subsequent clashes with Pakistan.

On the eve of Independence day, the government announced that thirteen officers of the Indian Air Force will be awarded the Yudh Sewa Medal, 26 officers the Vayu Sena Medal, and four Air Force officers along with two senior Army officers will be decorated with the Sarvottam Yudha Seva Medal.

Under Operation Sindoor, India targeted terrorist and military facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir from May 7 to 10 in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed. The Air Force executed precision strikes on four sites inside Pakistan, while five other locations were hit in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Operation Sindoor was a tri-services mission jointly conducted by the Army, Navy, and Air Force, entirely from Indian soil.

Award	Recipient & Rank
Vayu Sena Medal	Group Captain Ankur Hakim
	Group Captain Manav Bhatia
	Group Captain Yasir Faruqi
	Group Captain Varun Bhoj
	Group Captain Anuraj Singh Minhas
	Group Captain Omar Browne
	Group Captain Deepak Chauhan
	Group Captain Kunal Vishwas Shimpi
	Wing Commander Rupak Roy
	Wing Commander Devendra Babasaheb Autade
	Wing Commander Mayank Paliwal
	Wing Commander Deepak Dogra
	Wing Commander Ravinder Kumar
	Wing Commander Adarsh Gupta
	Wing Commander Abhay Singh Bhadoria
	Wing Commander Amandeep Singh Dihot
	Squadron Leader Kaustubh Nalawade
	Squadron Leader Mihir Vivek Chaudhari
	Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma
	Squadron Leader Malapati N.V. Naveen Kumar
	Squadron Leader Shubham Sharma
	Squadron Leader Aman Singh
	Squadron Leader Gaurav Khokher
	Flight Lieutenant A. Naveen Chandar
	Sergeant Surendra Kumar
	Corporal Varunkumar S.
Veer Chakra	Group Captain Ranjeet Singh Sidhu
	Group Captain Manish Arora
	Group Captain Animesh Patnim
	Group Captain Kunal Kalra
	Wing Commander Joy Chandra
	Squadron Leader Sarthak Kumar
	Squadron Leader Siddhant Singh
	Squadron Leader Rizwan Malik
	Flight Lieutenant Arshweer Singh Thakur
Sarvottam Yudha Seva Medal	Air Staff Air Marshal Narnadeshwar Tiwari
	Western Air Commander Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra
	DG Air Operations Air Marshal Awadhesh Bharti
	Former Western Naval Commander Vice Admiral SJ Singh
	Two senior Indian Army officers
Uttam Yudh Seva Medal	Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti

Special focus on Indian Air Force

The centre on Thursday awarded the Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) to 26 Indian Air Force officers and airmen for their brave contributions in the service of the nation during Operation Sindoor.

Those being awarded the Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) took part in missions to hit targets inside Pakistan, and officers and men operating the S-400 and other air defence systems, which foiled all attacks planned by Pakistan on Indian soil.

Group Captains (GP) Ankur Hakim, Manav Bhatia, Yasir Faruqi, Varlin Bhoj, Anuraj Singh Minhas, Omar Browne, Deepak Chauhan, and Kunal Vishwas Shimpi have been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal for their gallant actions on the battlefield.

Wing commanders (WG CDR) who have been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal are: Joy Chandra Rupak Roy, Devendra Babasaheb Autade, Mayank Paliwal, Deepak Dogra, Ravinder Kumar, Adarsh Gupta, Abhay Singh Bhadoria, and Amandeep Singh Dihot.

Squadron Leaders (Sqn Ldr) awarded the Vayu Sena Medal are: Kaustubh Nalawade, Mihir Vivek Chaudhari, Rakesh Sharma, Malapati NV Naveen Kumar, Shubham Sharma, Aman Singh and Gaurav Khokher.

Flight Lieutenant (FLT LT) along with Sergeant (Sgt) A naveen chandar, and Corporal (CPL) Surendra Kumar have been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal.

Moreover, 13 Indian Air Force officers were awarded the distinguished Yudh Sewa Medal for playing an important role in executing attacks and defending their own airspace. The officers include Air Vice Marshal Joseph Suares, AVM Prajual Singh and Air Commodore Ashok Raj Thakur.

This comes after Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said that India took down at least five fighter jets of Pakistan during Operation Sindoor and downed one large aircraft which was taken on at a distance of about 300 kilometres.

He said the aircraft that was brought down "is the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about".