It was at RNAS Brawdy, on the south western tip of Wales where the birth and, later, resurgence of the Indian Navy’s first combat squadron, INAS 300 or ‘White Tigers’ took place. Careful consideration had been given to selecting aircraft for operation from the Indian Navy’s first carrier and in the autumn of 1959 the Indian Navy placed an order for 24 Armstrong Whitworth Sea Hawk FGA Mk.6s for the fighter-bomber role. Indian Naval aviation had finally begun to take on tangible form.

INAS 300 was commissioned at RNAS Brawdy on 7 July 1960, in the presence of Mrs. Vijayalaxmi Pandit, the Indian High Commissioner in London. The CO designate, Lt Cdr Balbir Dutt Law then read out the commissioning warrant and formally assumed command of the new unit, the Indian Navy’s first front line and only carrier based fighter squadron. In recognition of the unique place to be occupied by INAS 300 in the navy’s order of battle, the new squadron’s crest depicted the rare White Tiger of Rewa, “rampant on sea waves against an azure background.”

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