IAF officer who shot down Pak F-16 jet gets Vir Chakra | Abhinandan Varthaman

• Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman was awarded the Vir Chakra by President Ram Nath Kovind. Varthaman shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet during a dogfight over the LoC on Feb 27, 2019. He was conferred with the award at an investiture ceremony at Delhi's Rashtrapati Bhavan. Vir Chakra is India’s third highest wartime gallantry award after Param Vir Chakra & Maha Vir Chakra. Varthaman was then a wing commander & promoted to the rank of group captain earlier this month. An Indian Air Force (IAF) group captain is equivalent to an army colonel. The 2019 dogfight took place a day after IAF’s Mirage-2000s struck targets in Pakistan’s Balakot. Varthaman, then 35, scripted military aviation history by downing an F-16. He shot down the F-16 seconds before his own MiG-21 Bison was hit by a missile, forcing him to eject. The IAF officer was captured after he bailed out of his aircraft in Pakistan. Pakistan returned him to India on Mar 1, 2019, after holding him captive for almost 60 hours. Varthaman's Vir Chakra was announced on Independence Day in 2019.