Chandigarh: Air Marshal Ranjit Singh Bedi passes away at the age of 90

Chandigarh: Air Marshal Ranjit Singh Bedi, a participant in the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971 and former councillor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, died on July 1 in New Delhi at the age of 90. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, he was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the IAF in April 1956 and later served with Nos. 1, 27, 7 and 45 Squadrons, flying de Havilland Vampire, Hawker Hunter and MiG-21 aircraft. He later commanded 11 Forward Base Support Unit, 1 Tactical Air Centre and Air Force Station, Halwara before retiring as Director General, Perspective Planning in the Integrated Defence Staff in November 1993.

In the 1965 and 1971 wars, Air Marshal Bedi flew combat air patrols and undertook escort missions. He was one of the founding members of the first Formation Aerobatics Display Team of the Indian Air Force, formed in 1962. In 1970, he was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal for safely landing his MiG-21 which was damaged in a mid-air collision with another aircraft during rehearsals for the Republic Day flypast over New Delhi. After retirement he settled in Chandigarh, where he remained active in the social circuit as well as in the local chapter of the Air Force Association, where he took up the issues of ex-servicemen or their dependents. He was also a regular writer and commentator on defence and strategic matters.