INS Utkrosh , is an Indian naval air station under the joint-services

Andaman and Nicobar Command The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is the first and only Joint warfare, tri-service Theater (warfare), theater command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India. It was cre ...

of the

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 ...

. It is located near

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

INS Jarawa INS Jarawa is a naval base of the Indian Armed Forces under the joint-services Andaman and Nicobar Command located in Port Blair in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. It was commissioned in 1964. INS Utkrosh is an adjacent naval air station. ''IN ...

, on

Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...

in the

Andaman & Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

. It shares airside facilities with

Veer Savarkar International Airport Veer Savarkar International Airport is an international airport located south of Port Blair and is the main airport of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Originally known as "Port Blair Airport", it was renamed in 2002 after Vinayak D ...

which handles civilian traffic.

History

The airfield at

was transferred from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to the Indian Navy on 9 March 1984. It was initially commissioned as ''INS Jarawa II''. On 11 May 1985, the air station was formally commissioned as ''INS Utkrosh'' by then

Defence Minister of India The Minister of Defence (''Rakshā Mantrī'') is the head of the Ministry of Defence and a high ranking minister of the Government of India. The Defence Minister is one of the most senior offices in the Union Council of Ministers as well as b ...

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to Indi ...

, making it the first naval air station in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Its location makes it an important strategic station for protecting India's maritime interests in the

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 between ...

. It also serves as an important facility for undertaking humanitarian operations, such as disaster relief and evacuation of medical emergencies from the remote islands. The facilities at ''INS Utkrosh'' have been significantly upgraded. The runway has been lengthened to almost . Except for the civilian terminal operated by the

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...

, all other air traffic operations over Port Blair are undertaken by INS Utkrosh. The geography makes this a difficult airfield for aircraft, as a hillock at one end means that planes can land or take off only in one direction. Winds change here every six months, so pilots have to either take off or land with strong tail winds.

Units

Naval Air Squadrons based at ''INS Utkrosh'' include: * INAS 318, a

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

squadron operating

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 ...

aircraft *

INAS 321 The INAS 321 is an Indian naval air squadron based at INS Shikra, Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre ...

, operating

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 fight ...

helicopters * a

Training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or Physical fitness, fitness that relate to specific practicality, useful Competence (human resources), competencies. Training has specific goals of improving on ...

squadron operating

Pipistrel Alpha Trainer The Pipistrel Alpha Trainer is a Slovenian two-seat, single-engine light-sport aircraft intended specifically for flight training, designed and produced by Pipistrel in Gorizia, Italy. The Alpha was announced at the end of 2011 and production ...

aircraft

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:INS Utkrosh Utkrosh Buildings and structures in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

History

Units

See also

References