Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 310
INAS 310, comprising Alize anti submarine aircraft, had commissioned in France on 21 March 1961. The Alize was a well proven turbo-prop aircraft, having been in operation with the French Navy since 1959. A total of 14 Alizes were eventually acquired, 12 in 1961 and 2 in 1969.
The Alizes were refurbished by 1978. The last launch of Alizes from VIKRANT took place on 2 April 1987. Thereafter Alizes operated only from ashore. From February 1988 to October 1989, during Operation Pawan to assist the Government of Sri Lanka, the Alizes operated from Madurai in support of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. They flew 1800 hours and the crew won three Nao Sena Medals and four Mentions in Despatches. During the operation to assist the Government of the Maldives, in suppressing an insurrection, an Alize spotted the rebel's escape vessel MV Progress Light and fired at it, forcing it to stop and be apprehended.
The Alizes stopped flying on 12 April 1991 and the Squadron was decommissioned in Aug 91. Seven aircraft were left of the total of 14 acquired. During the 30 years of the squadron's existence, the Alizes had flown 35,912 hours and done 7,144 deck landings.
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.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
