The Hawker Sea Hawk entered service with the Indian Naval Air Arm on 22 January 1960. Sea Hawks were used aboard the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and saw service during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak Wars. The latter war saw the aircraft being used very effectively by the Indian Navy; Sea Hawks racked up nearly a dozen kills, mainly of Pakistan Navy gunboats, merchant navy ships and cargo ships in East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) without losing a single aircraft. Aided by the Breguet Alize ASW aircraft, the Sea Hawks emerged unscathed and with the highest kill ratio for any aircraft in the entire war. The aircraft was retired from service in 1983, being replaced by the BAE Sea Harrier.
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