No. 5 Squadron IAF

No.5 Squadron (The Tuskers) is a squadron of the Indian Air Force. Based at AFS Ambala, the No.5 Squadron falls under the Western Air Command. The squadron has retained – and discharged – a primarily offensive operational role for the Indian Air Force, in the half-century since its inception in 1948.

No. 5 Squadron was formed on 2 November 1948 under the command of Wing Commander JRS "Danny" Datra.

Priyanath Mukhopadhyay, a stalwart, assumed command of No. 5 Squadron IAF in July 2001. He led the Fly Past display for the republic day parade on 26 Jan 2003. After initial training on the HT-2, he flew the SEPECAT Jaguar including the Jaguar IS.

Effective 19 July 2001, he was the Commanding Officer of 5 Squadron, based at Ambala Air Force Base. On 28 January 2003 around 10:30 pm, his Jaguar crashed over Mahajan Firing Range in Bikaner district late on Jan 28 2003 night killing him on the spot. He was flying a Jaguar IS variant at the time of the crash. The Jaguar Aircraft he was flying during a routine night sortie first went missing at night on 28 Jan 2003 and subsequently crash site located on 29 Jan in the deserts of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.