Ranjan Dutt

Air Vice Marshal Ranjan Dutt, VrC (30 September 1921 or 1922 – 13 August 2009) was a former air officer of the Indian Air Force. He last served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Air Command. Prior to that, he was the managing director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

In 1940 Dutt was one of the 24 Indian pilots seconded to the UK for operational training and squadron service. There, he was selected for fighter training and subsequently spent the summer of 1941 protecting convoys through the English Channel and flying Hurricanes with No. 32 Squadron RAF after the Battle of Britain. He served in North Africa and the Middle-East in the latter part of that year before returning to India to join No. 4 Squadron IAF at Peshawar, North-West Frontier. There, he flew sorties from Miranshah in the Datakhel operations. In June 1944 he became one of the first Indian flight instructors at a training unit in Risalpur. The following year he completed a flight leader course at RAF Tangmere in the UK, and then joined No. 8 Squadron IAF in Mingaladon as a flight commander.

Later, in a senior post at the Operational group, Dutt led several air missions in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. On 26 January 1950 he was awarded the second Vir Chakra.

Early life and education Ranjan Dutt was born on 30 September 1921, or in 1922. Towards the beginning of 1947, under Dutt's command, the Tigers converted to the Hawker Tempest.

Post-Independence In August 1947, with the partition of India, Dutt moved to India.

Later career On 1 July 1951, Dutt was appointed Commanding Officer of the No. 1 Air Force Academy (No. 1 AFA) in Ambala. In September, he led the movement of the Academy to Secunderabad. He graduated in 1952 from RAF Staff College, Andover, with a thesis on "Commonwealth Defence". On 1 April 1953, he was made substantive group captain. In October 1954, he moved to Air HQ, having been appointed Director, Operations.

Air rank After a four-year tenure, on 28 May 1958, Dutt was promoted to the acting rank of air commodore and appointed Air Officer-in-Charge Policy and Plans at Air HQ. This was a short tenure; in March next year, he took over as the Air officer commanding Training Command at Bangalore. In April 1960, the post was upgraded to a two-star rank and rechristened Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief. Dutt was promoted to the acting rank of air vice marshal.

By the end of the year, Dutt was appointed the managing director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). At HAL, he led the procurement of HAL HF-24 Maruts designed by Kurt Tank, and later MiG-21s. Their daughter is Ayesha Dutt, who is married to Jackie Shroff, and his grandson is Tiger Shroff. On 26 January 1950 he was awarded the Vir Chakra.

Death Dutt died on 13 August 2009 in Chennai. He had returned to India from Europe earlier in the year and was cared for by his son, Shunith Dutt, till his death.

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