50th Anniversary of Naval Aviation 4.12.1983

This Special cover showing the mighty INS Vikrant was issued in commemoration of the 50^th Anniversary of Naval Aviation.

It is to the credit of the vision of those at the helm in early post-independence era that saw the Indian Navy depute a Royal Indian Navy officer, Lt YN Singh, India’s first naval pilot to the United Kingdom and Canada in 1941 for Basic Pilot Training. In due course he gained experience on escort carriers of the RN during the Second World War.

In our national endeavour to acquire a formidable and sturdy defence capability, the fleet air arm must serve as a veritable sword arm of the Indian Navy. The exponential growth of a fledgling Fleet Requirement Unit with ten amphibian Sealand aircraft in 1953 into a reckonable modern force is testimony to the Navy’s aspirations and resolve in developing this arm. This stems from global cognition of aviation component of a fleet as an invaluable tool for power projection and extending surveillance reach.

The Naval aviation formally took birth with the commissioning of INS Garuda, a Naval Air Station at Kochi on 11 May 1953. Earlier, the first Indian Naval Aircraft, the Shorts Sealand, had landed at Kochi on 04 Feb 1953. The aircraft joined the Fleet Requirement Unit, which later became the first Indian Naval Air Squadron INAS 550 on 17 Jun 1959.

This set the pace for further growth and in time the Indian Navy would boast of the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant with its squadrons of Sea Hawk fighter jets, the Alizé anti-submarine aircraft and the Allouette III helicopter. Vikrant would over time prove her worth in the liberation operations of Goa and in the Indo-Pak wars.

Naval Aviation is poised to grow in tandem with the overall growth of the Indian Navy. This growth is envisaged to be in terms of platforms as well as technologies. The induction of UAV and AEW helicopters has introduced a new dimension to maritime air warfare. Indigenous development programmes involving fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, air borne sensors and weapons are expected to ensure self-reliance in the future. Selective import of platforms and technologies would also be resorted to towards specific needs.