The Southern Air Command (SAC) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), which is in the southern side of India. This is one among the five commands of IAF. This command was started on 19 July 1984 and is relatively new among the other commands. The conflicts in Sri Lanka and the need for establishing a strong base over the Indian Ocean resulted to the formation of this new command. The SAC was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India.