Sulur Air Force Station is an

air base An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

located at

Sulur Sulur (Tamil language, Tamil:) is a town located in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is a suburb of Coimbatore. It is the headquarters of Sulur taluk, Sulur Taluk of Coimbatore district. There are many market places and many b ...

near

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and is India's second largest air base after Hindon AFS. It is the base which is responsible for protection of India's sea area. It is the only base in India which handles both fighter and transport flights at one location; no other base in India is equipped to do so. It is also the only IAF base in India to have all Departments at one location: fighters, carrier planes, carrier helicopters, attack helicopters, a repair and overhauling depot, TETTRA school, Garud Force, Air Force Hospital, Southern Command Sub Headquarters, & ECHS. It is a former

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

base.

History

The base was established in 1940 by the

of the then

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. The base was called HMS ''Vairi'' and hosted a

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

Royal Navy Air Yard (RNAY) known as RNAY Sulur, a repair base for aircraft operating in Southeast Asia during World War II. The base was burned down on 26 August 1942 during the 1942 August revolution. In 1943, the Indian Royal Air Force came to Sulur, which later transferred to Cochin in 1949. After gaining independence, the Indian Navy established

INS Hansa INS Hansa, is an Indian naval air station located near Dabolim in Goa, India. Data current as of October 2006. It is India's biggest naval airbase. The military air base has a civil enclave, that operates as Dabolim Airport. History ''INS Ha ...

to operate

Hawker Sea Hawk The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its design origina ...

s. After the liberation of Goa, INA Hansa was shifted to Goa's

Dabolim Dabolim is a village, with a total population of around 6700, in Mormugão, Goa, India. It is located about 30 km from the state capital Panjim, 23 km from the South Goa district headquarters Margão and 5 kilometres from Vas ...

airfield and Sulur was taken over by the air force. In 1955, the 5BRD (No 5, Base Repair Depot) of the Indian Air Force was planned and it started functioning in 1959. The airbase was also used for civil aviation and for racing motorcycles and cars in the 1960s. Since 14 January 1984 this base has been completely operated and maintained by the Indian Air Force.

Operational aircraft

The base is home for 5 Base Repair Depot and 43 Wing of the Indian Air Force. The 33 squadron "Himalayan Geese" which operated

Antonov An-32 The Antonov An-32 ( NATO reporting name: Cline) is a turboprop twin-engined military transport aircraft. Design and development The An-32 is essentially a re-engined An-26. It is designed to withstand adverse weather conditions better than the ...

medium transport aircraft is based at Sulur. The base also accommodates 109 helicopter unit "Knights" operating Mi-17 V5 transport helicopters. The Sarang helicopter display team belonging to 151 Squadron of the Indian Air Force has its primary garrison at Sulur and operates modified

HAL Dhruv The HAL Dhruv is a utility helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in November 1984. The helicopter first flew in 1992; however, its development was prolonged due to multiple factors including the Indian Army ...

helicopters. Starting from July 2018, the air force station is also home of the 45 Squadron "Flying Daggers", which operates

HAL Tejas The HAL Tejas is an Indian, single engine, delta wing, light multirole fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for t ...

. On May 27, 2020, 18 Squadron "Flying Bullets" was operationalised from this air base. 610 Garud Flight was formed at 43 Wing Sulur on 22 Nov 2010. The flight specialises in counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations File:An32roh.JPG, Antonov An-32 File:IAF Mi 17 V5 at Aero India 2013.JPG, Mi-17 V5 File:IAF Tejas full size (32941198511).jpg, HAL Tejas File:Dhruv-Sarang-394.jpg, HAL Dhruv of Sarang display team

References

External links

{{Indian Air Force Indian Air Force bases Airports in Tamil Nadu 1940 establishments in British India Military installations established in 1940