Know the Air Fleet of Indian Navy

New Delhi: The air fleet of Indian Navy is taken care of by the Indian Naval Air Arm. Indian Naval Air Arm is a branch of Indian Navy which is tasked to provide an aircraft carrier based strike capability, fleet air defence, maritime reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare.The first naval air station, INS Garuda, was inaugurated in Cochin on 11 May 1953.This went hand-in-hand with the commissioning of the No.550 Squadron,utilising Short Sealand aircraft and Fairey Firefly aircraft.1960 saw the No.300 White Tigers Squadron,consisting of Sea Hawks aircraft being commissioned. Now lets have a look at the present aircraft inventory of Indian Navy:1. Mikoyan MiG-29KThe first MIG-29K for the Indian Navy took flight on 22 January 2007.The aircraft has been made ready for aircraft carrier operation by hardening the undercarriage. The aircraft also has much better over-the-nose vision to make it easy to land aboard a carrier at high angle of attack. The Naval version also has additional fuel carrying capacity as also a capacity to carry more weapons since there are a total of nine stations as against only seven with the Air Force version. The aircraft also has a full glass cockpit with three large size multi-function displays. Modifications were made for Indian Navy requirement featured Zhuk-ME radar, RD-33MK engine, combat payload up to 5,500 kg, 13 hardpoints (inclusive of the multi-lock bomb carriers), additional fuel tanks situated in dorsal spine fairing and wing LERXs, increased total fuel capacity by 50% comparing to first variant of MiG-29 and updated 4-channel digital fly-by-wire flight control system. With special coatings MiG-29K radar reflecting surface is 4–5 times smaller than of basic MiG-29. The delivery of the aircraft to the Indian Navy started in 2009, and in May 2012, 15 had been inducted, with 29 more to be delivered.2. BAE Sea HarrierThe BAE Sea Harrier operates from the INS Viraat.The BAE Sea Harrier FRS Mk.51 / T Mk.60 fly with the INAS 300 and INAS 552 squadrons of the Indian Navy. They were first acquired by the Indian Navy in the mid-1980s. After years of undergoing maintenance in the UK, the Indian Navy launched Project Ashok to set up a maintenance facility in Kochi in 1994. The Sea Harriers are armed with the Matra Magic-II AAM and the Sea Eagle Anti-ship missiles. The aircraft were upgraded with the Elta EL/M-2032 radar and the Rafael Derby BVRAAM missiles. Though the Sea Harriers were expected to remain in service with the Indian Navy till 2012–15, limited upgrades are being performed on these Sea Harriers by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), to extend the life of the aircraft by 15 years.3. Tupolev Tu-142The Indian Navy operates eight Tu-142 aircraft, which entered service in 1988. Upgrading of the aircraft are taking place, which helps to extend the service life of the aircraft by sixteen years. One of the upgraded aircraft has been handed over to the Indian Navy.The aircraft operate from INS Rajali and INS Hansa. Two Tu-142 aircraft are being fitted with the air-launched version of the BrahMos. The aircraft will be the test platform for the BrahMos cruise missiles. The integration and tests of the missile is expected to be completed by 2010. Eight aircraft will be fitted with the BrahMos cruise missiles.4. Ilyushin Il-38Indian Navy operates 5 Il-38 planes. Currently they are being upgraded to use Sea Dragon suite. It is a maritime patrol aircraft and anti-submarine warfare aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It was a development of the Ilyushin Il-18 turboprop transport.Helicopters1. Dhruv of the Indian NavyHAL Dhruv Developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the Navy received its first Dhruvs on 28 March 2002.It is expected to receive a total of 120 units to replace the Chetak helicopters in service. The naval variant is fitted with the Super Vision-2000 maritime radar, capable of detecting targets with low radar cross section at a range of 200 km. The anti-submarine version of the helicopter is fitted with dunking sonar, torpedoes, depth charges. The helicopter may also be fitted with the missiles for anti-ship roles. However in 2008, Indian Navy pronounced Dhruv unsuitable for its role as an ASW platform. Indian Navy will continue to procure Dhruv as a multi-role utility platform.2. Kamov Ka-25 HormoneKamov Ka-28 Helix-A, and the Kamov Ka-31 Helix-B: The KA-25 was acquired by the Indian Navy in 1980 for anti-submarine warfare, but had severe technological limitations. The KA-28 were acquired in the mid-80s, and were said to be a quantum leap over their predecessors from an ASW standpoint. The KA-31takes the Kamov capabilities even further by enabling real-time network-centric warfare for the Indian Navy.3. Westland Sea King and the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea KingUsed principally for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and search & rescue roles,the helicopter fleet operate from INS Garuda (Kochi) as well as INS Kunjali-II (Mumbai) air stations. US sanctions on India in response to India's nuclear tests resulted in a large part of the Sea King fleet being grounded for want of spare parts. Seventeen of the Sea King helicopters will be upgraded. The upgrade will feature day and night capability, capability to work in adverse weather conditions, integration of two anti-ship missiles with a range of fifty kilometres and a new radar.4. Aérospatiale SA 316 Alouette IIIAlso known as the Chetak, these choppers have seen active service in the Navy as well as the Coast Guard. They are carried on several combatant as well as non-combatant ships. They are also operated from and maintained at the INS Kunjali-II and INS Utkrosh Naval Air Stations in Mumbai and Port Blair respectively.UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles):The Indian Navy operates at least two squadrons of Heron and Searcher Mk-II UAVs, based in Kochi (INAS 342) and Porbandar (INAS 343).There are plans to have at least two more squadrons of UAVs. UAVs are controlled from ships to increases the range of surveillance. There are plans to introduce rotary UAVs into the Indian Navy. These UAVs will have higher endurance and load carrying capability resulting in better reconnaissance capabilities.