Hyderabad, May 9 -- Irrigation & Civil Supplies Minister Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who once flew MiG-23s as an Indian Air Force fighter pilot, spoke candidly on Friday about his military past and current tensions between India and Pakistan, declaring he'd be ready to return to combat if the country ever needed him again.
Chatting informally with reporters at Gandhi Bhavan, Uttam Kumar Reddy reflected on joining the armed forces at just 16. By 1982, Uttam Kumar Reddy was flying MiG-21s, and later got behind the controls of the MiG-23 - a jet so fast it could hit speeds more than twice the speed of sound.
"I was just 20, already a fighter pilot," he said, looking back on postings in places like Uttar Pradesh, Srinagar, and Amritsar - ...