Indian Naval Air Arm
Naval Aviation is a vital arm of the Indian Navy for undertaking tasks such as maritime reconnaissance, fleet air defence, carrier borne strikes against maritime targets, ships and shore borne air anti-submarine warfare. search and rescue (SAR) etc. To undertake these tasks, a variety of aircraft and helicopters are employed by the Navy.
Naval Aviation History
The role of Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) was to search large sea areas by day and by night to locate and track enemy warships and merchant ships and home air strikes and naval ships against them. The MR arm of the Indian Air Force was formed from World War II Liberator aircraft. The first Liberator Squadron (No 5) was raised in November 1948. Though old and inadequately equipped for the task, Liberators did useful work as a MR squadron as well as Air Sea rescue. In 1961, the IAF acquired seven Super Constellation (Super Connie) aircraft from Air India for conversion to the MR role.
On 17 January 1959, the Fleet Requirement Unit (FRU) became the first unit to be commissioned as Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 550. It had ten amphibian Sealands, ten target towing Fireflies and three HT 2 trainer aircraft.
Since VIKRANT was going to operate jet aircraft, pilots had to undergo conversion. Three Vampire jet aircraft were acquired from HAL and one Vampire trainer was transferred from the Air Force. GARUDA's runway was not long enough to operate the Vampires. From September 1957 onwards, a `Naval Jet Flight' started operating from the longer airfield at Sulur near Coimbatore.
Helicopters first entered naval service with the VIKRANT's Sea Air Rescue (SAR) Flight whose primary role was to rescue ditched pilots. Helicopter pilots received their initial training with the Air Force and later in France. The two French Alouette helicopters obtained on loan for VIKRANT's work up in Malta were returned to France. Three Alouettes had been ordered from France for VIKRANT's SAR Flight but their delivery was expected only in 1964. To bridge the gap between 1961 and 1964, two American Sikorsky helicopters were obtained on loan from the Air Force.
In addition to the initial order of 23 Seahawks acquired with the VIKRANT. 23 more reconditioned Seahawks had been purchased from Britain - seven in 1962, ten in 1963 and six in 1964. In 1965, an agreement was signed for the purchase of 28 more Seahawks which were being phased out by the Federal German Navy.
With Seahawks having been phased out from the Royal Navy in the early 1960s, the Indian Navy was constantly on the look out for their replacements. The Indian Navy decided to await the developments of the Sea Harrier. In 1977, Government approved the acquisition of 8 Sea Harriers, including 2 trainers. The first British Sea Harrier flew in 1978.
After the 1971 war, in which KHUKRI was sunk by a Pakistan Navy submarine, the Navy pressed the requirement for a versatile MRASW aircraft which, with a good radar, could rapidly search a required area and be capable of attacking and sinking a submarine located by it. In February 1975, the agreement was signed for the acquisition of three IL 38s from Russia.
On 24 August 1991, the first naval Dornier arrived to replace the Alizes in INAS 310. Thereafter additional Dorniers joined: one in 1991, two in 1992 and one in 1993, making a total induction of five Dorniers. The Dorniers were progressively fitted with the latest radar, electronic and sonobuoy systems for the surveillance and EW roles.
On 30 March 1988, the first three TU 142 M aircraft landed at HANSA after a non stop flight from Russia. Two more aircraft arrived on 13 April. The squadron was commissioned at HANSA on 16 April and designated INAS 312. The remaining three aircraft arrived between August and October 1988. The embarkation of helicopters in ships, which had started with the light Alouette IIIs in VIKRANT, DARSHAK and DEEPAK in the 1960's followed by the MATCH Alouettes in the first four Leander frigates in the 1970's, accelerated in the 1980s.
All new front line frigates and destroyers were designed to embark heavy helicopters. TARAGIRI and VINDHYAGIRI had one Seaking each. The RAJPUT class frigates from Russia had one Kamov each. The GODAVARI class frigates of Project 16 had two Seakings each, as do the DELHI class destroyers of Project 15. The LST(L)'s were designed to embark the commando variant Seakings. All other frigate sized ships had the lighter Alouette IIIs (Chetaks) - TRISHUL and TALWAR after conversion, BRAHMAPUTRA, BEAS and BETWA after conversion to the training role, the new training ship TIR, the new survey ships and the new KHUKRI class corvettes of Project 25.
With the commissioning of the new guided missile frigate INS RAJPUT in Russia in March 80, the first KA 25 helicopter entered service. On 11 Dec 80, the twin engined KA 25 helicopter squadron was commissioned at HANSA and designated INAS 333. In subsequent years, the KA 28s replaced the obsolescent KA 85s.
Naval Aviation Recent Developments
The Indian Navy spent in excess of $500 million to upgrade its fleet of eight Russian Tu-142 F maritime reconnaissance strike aircraft. A new plan calls for modernizing the aircraft to operate anti-ship missiles, advanced navigation equipment and electronic warfare systems to create a link between India's nuclear command center and its nuclear submarines. The upgraded aircraft would be dubbed the Tu-142J.
India’s need for Maritime Surveillance Aircraft intensified on 02 October 2002 when two IL-38s, which is a combination of Il-18 airliner and the IL-20 reconnaissance model, crashed during a demonstration. After their overhaul in 1996, the two IL–38s had been expected to remain in service until 2015. The crash reduced India’s Maritime surveillance fleet to three Il-38s and eight Tu-142s.
In February 2001 it was reported that Russia was preparing to lease India four TU-22M3 Backfire long-range bombers armed with the KH-22 cruise missiles having a range of 500 km. There were also reports that the Tu-22M3 offered to India for the maritime attack role would be armed with the conventional anti-ship Kh-15A (export designation Kh-15S) missile. The Backfire has a combat of 2,400 km, though the bomber could be upgraded with mid-air refueling to extend the range to 5,000 km.
On 20 January 2004 India finalized the purchase of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov after over a decade of negotiations. But Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes did not reach agreement on other weapons, such as the Tu-22 Backfire bombers or Akula-class nuclear submarines.
As a part of the $1.5 billion Admiral Gorshkov, India purchased 12 single-seater Mig 29K fighters and four twin-seater MiG-29KUB combat-cum-trainer aircraft to equip the carrier. The four Mig 29KUB trainers were expected to be delivered in 2007 to allow India to train its pilots prior to the delivery of the remaining 12 fighters to be completed by 2009. The Gorshkov is expected to be able to accomodate up to 24 MiG-29Ks as well as six Kamov-28 and KA-31 helicopters. As per the contract, the Navy had the option to purchase another 30 MiG-29K with deliveries up to 2015 to equip the Gorshkov and the new Air Defence Ship being built at the Kochi docks.
