INS Baaz 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 tri-service theater command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India. It was created in 2001 to safeguard India ...

(ANC) 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 th ...

. It is located near Campbell Bay, on

Great Nicobar Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra. History The Nicobar Island has been well known to Indian mariners since the time of the seafaring Cholas https://www.britannica.com/place/Nicoba ...

island 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 is the southernmost air station of the Indian Armed Forces. It overlooks the

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...

as well as the Six Degree channel between Great Nicobar and the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n island of Sumatra.

History

INS Baaz was commissioned by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral

Nirmal Kumar Verma Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma (born 14 November 1950) is a former senior naval officer who served as the Chief of the Naval Staff of Indian Navy, from 31 August 2009 to 31 August 2012. In November 2012, he was appointed as the High Commissioner ...

on 31 July 2012. It is the first air station in the Nicobar Islands, situated on the Great Nicobar island in the remotest and southernmost part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and lies very close to the

Six Degree channel 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

, a vital choke point. The commissioning of the air station will facilitate positioning of maritime reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters of ANC and also facilitate the Civil Administration to operate regular intra-island sorties. The Naval air station will provide requisite logistic, communication and administrative support for various aircraft undertaking surveillance, patrolling missions and maritime air operations. The strategically located INS Baaz will enable India to extend its reach in the eastern Indian Ocean region. Commander SK Singh Deo is the first commanding officer of INS Baaz. INS Baaz will initially be used as a base for the Indian Navy's

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 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 ...

aircraft. It can also operate the Indian Air Force's

C-130J Super Hercules The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The C-130J is the newest v ...

transport aircraft. Its runway measures and will be progressively lengthened to enable all heavy aircraft to operate from the base.

Modernization

There are plans to extend the runway to 6,000 feet by 2016 and then to 10,000 feet. The Indian Navy has been flying new Boeing P8i Poseidon surveillance aircraft with anti-submarine capabilities from Mainland India to

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 ...

but once the runway is at 6,000 feet they would also rotate through Campbell Bay from time to time.

Airlines and destinations

; 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 *

* 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 ...

* India's overseas military bases

References

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