INS Parundu is an Indian
naval air station located near
Uchipuli in the
Ramanathapuram
Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...
of the state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
.
It operates under the
Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy. The air station will be opened up for civilian flights under Phase 2 of the
Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of the Government of India also known as
UDAN
''Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik'' ( Hindi for "Let the common citizens of the country fly"), known by its acronym ''UDAN'' ( Hindi for "flight") is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connect ...
and the
Airports Authority of India (AAI) has started preparatory work at the airstrip.
It is sandwiched between
Rameswaram
Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kil ...
National Highway Road and Railway track which leads towards Rameswaram.
History
The airfield in
Ramanathapuram
Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...
was previously the abandoned Ramnad Civil Aerodrome. Naval aviation first utilised the facilities in 1982, to monitor the
Palk Strait
The Palk Strait ( ta, பாக்கு நீரிணை ''Pākku Nīriṇai'', si, පෝක් සමුද්ර සන්ධිය ''Pok Samudra Sandhiya'') is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna Distri ...
in the wake of the
Sri Lankan Civil War.
The facilities were fully transferred to the Navy on 9 June 1985, and the naval air station was initially commissioned ''INS Rajali II''.
On 26 March 2009, the base was renamed and commissioned as ''INS Parundu'', for the
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
word for an
eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
. The facilities have since been upgraded to operate larger aircraft. It is primarily used by the navy as a reconnaissance station to monitor the South East
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...
, the northern
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
, the
Gulf of Mannar
The Gulf of Mannar ( ) is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean with an average depth of . and the
Palk Strait
The Palk Strait ( ta, பாக்கு நீரிணை ''Pākku Nīriṇai'', si, පෝක් සමුද්ර සන්ධිය ''Pok Samudra Sandhiya'') is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna Distri ...
.
On 25 August 2017, an Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological System (IAAMS) was added.
Units
The primary units based at ''INS Parundu'' are Naval Air Squadrons (INAS) that operate
HAL Chetak
HAL may refer to:
Aviation
* Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia
* Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL)
* HAL Airport, Bangalore, India
* Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fig ...
helicopters,
Islander and
Dornier 228
The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 19 ...
reconnaissance aircraft.
Besides upgrading the runway, the Navy has installed dedicated facilities to operate UAVs from the air station.
INAS 344, operating IAI Heron and IAI Searcher Mk II UAVs is based at INS Parundu.
See also
; Indian navy
* List of Indian Navy bases
The Indian Navy currently operates three commands — Western Naval Command located at Mumbai, Southern Naval Command located at Kochi and Eastern Naval Command located at Visakhapatnam. The Andaman and Nicobar Command, a unified Indian Navy, ...
* List of active Indian Navy ships
List of active Indian Navy ships is a list of ships in active service with the Indian Navy. In service ships are taken from the official Indian Navy website.
; Integrated commands and units
* Armed Forces Special Operations Division
The Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) is a tri-service command of the Indian Armed Forces. The division is tasked to carry out special operations. The AFSOD draws personnel from all three special warfare branches of the Armed Fo ...
* Defence Cyber Agency
The Defence Cyber Agency (DCyA) is a tri-service command of the Indian Armed Forces. Headquartered in New Delhi, the agency is tasked with handling cyber security threats. The DCyA draws personnel from all three branches of the Armed Forces. The ...
* Integrated Defence Staff
The Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) is an organisation responsible for fostering coordination and enabling prioritisation across the different branches of the Indian Armed Forces. It is composed of representatives from the Indian Army, Indian Navy, ...
* Integrated Space Cell
* Indian Nuclear Command Authority
* Indian Armed Forces
The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by th ...
* Special Forces of India
; Other lists
* Strategic Forces Command
* List of Indian Air Force stations
The Indian Air Force currently operates seven Air Commands. Each command is headed by an Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal.
The Air Force currently has over 60 air stations all over India. These are grouped into seve ...
* List of Indian Navy bases
The Indian Navy currently operates three commands — Western Naval Command located at Mumbai, Southern Naval Command located at Kochi and Eastern Naval Command located at Visakhapatnam. The Andaman and Nicobar Command, a unified Indian Navy, ...
* India's overseas military bases
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:INS Parundu
Parundu
Airports in Tamil Nadu
1982 establishments in Tamil Nadu
Airports established in 1982
Military installations established in 1982