Gnats played a major combat role in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak conflicts serving with the Indian Air Force. The diminutive aircraft proved a handful for the larger, even superior, Canadair F-86 Sabres (license-production North American Sabre jets). Kills attributed to the Gnat were mostly Pakistani Sabres and eventually earned the Gnat the appropriate nickname of "Sabre Slayer". Its capabilities and relative small size no doubt played up to the advantage of the Indian pilots, able to out maneuver the Sabres and strategically set themselves up for a quick cannon burst. India claimed seven Pakistani air-to-air kills by Gnats in the 1965 conflict alone. By 1978, the Gnat in Indian service had reached her technological end and was removed from service in favor or newer warplanes. HAL of India produced at least 175 Gnats locally and received at least 40 more from Folland.
A single Gnat piloted by Indian Air Force Squadron Leader Brij Singh Sikand landed in a Pakistani airfield. Though the airfield was abandoned, the aircraft was still captured by Pakistan and eventually put on display at the Karachi-based Pakistan Air Force Museum.
The Gnat was produced in a handful of variants with total production running just 449 aircraft. Production was predominantly handled by Folland in the United Kingdom and by HAL (Hindustan Aircraft, Limited) of India. Variants included the original Fo.141 Gnat as a single-seat jet fighter. This served as the Gnat F.Mk 1 for Finland while becoming the HAL production Gnat in India (via license production). The Fo.144 Gnat became the base designation for the modified two-seat trainer, appearing in its Gnat T.Mk 1 designation (after Folland's acquisition by Hawker-Siddeley) when in service with the Royal Air Force. HAL went on to produce the HAL Ajeet (meaning "Invincible" or "Unconquerable") as an improved Gnat F.Mk 1. and complimented the type with the HAL Ajeet two-seat advanced trainer derived from the RAF Gnat T.Mk 1 but with extensive modifications.
The United Kingdom, India, Finland and Yugoslavia became the only operators of the Gnat. The United Kingdom operated the Gnat trainer model for the Royal Air Force and was selected to perform with the Red Arrows acrobatic team from 1964 through 1979. Finland operated 13 Gnat fighters - two were reconnaissance versions - beginning in July of 1958 through 1974 while Yugoslavia received just two Gnats for evaluation purposes. Finnish operation of Gnats were plagued with technical issues and accidents that forced the aircraft to be grounded for a time. Eventually, the aircraft were proving too costly to maintain and were given up in favor of the Swedish Saab 35 Drakens. Finnish Air Force Major Lauri Pekuri was credited as being the first Finn to break the speed of sound in a Gnat.
The United Kingdom retired her Gnats in 1979, replaced on the Red Arrows team by the British Aerospace Hawk T.1A aircraft. In addition to its "Sabre Slayer" monniker, the Gnat enjoyed the nickname of "Pocket Fighter" as well.
Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.