INS Garuda , is an Indian naval air station located in

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

, in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

. Commissioned on 11 May 1953, it is the oldest operating air station of the

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 si ...

. The air station is adjacent to

INS Venduruthy INS Venduruthy is an Indian Navy base located on Willingdon Island in Kochi, Kerala. It serves as the Headquarters of the Southern Naval Command. It is the largest training establishment of the Indian Navy. INS Garuda is a naval air station ...

and the headquarters of

Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Command of the Indian Navy. The Command is commanded by a Three Star Fla ...

. INS Garuda is a major naval air training centre as well as an operational base.

History

The original airstrip near Kochi was built by the

Cochin Port Trust Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Ke ...

to transport senior officials of the British Harbour Corps from the Madras Presidency for supervising the development of modern Kochi port in 1936. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the rudimentary air strip was taken over by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) in 1941 and expanded to establish a RAF experimental station. The Indian Air Force Volunteer Reserve (IAFVR) No. 5 Coastal Defence Flight, flying

Westland Wapiti The Westland Wapiti was a British two-seat general-purpose military single-engined biplane of the 1920s. It was designed and built by Westland Aircraft Works to replace the Airco DH.9A in Royal Air Force service. First flying in 1927, the Wa ...

II aircraft was based at the station in May 1941. In December 1942, IAFVR No. 5 was disbanded, and resources transferred to ''HMS Garuda'' in Peelamedu (present day Coimbatore International Airport), Coimbatore,Tamil Nadu. In 1943, the Kochi facilities were transferred to the Royal Navy (RN) which established an aircraft repair yard at the location to assemble aircraft shipped to India for the war effort. ''HMS Garuda'' was decommissioned in September 1946 at the end of the war, and the Kochi infrastructure was transferred to the DGCA.

Post-independence

The Indian Navy acquired the first

Short Sealand The Short SA.6 Sealand was a light, commercial amphibious aircraft designed and produced by Short Brothers. It was sized to accommodate between five and seven passengers as well as to suit the general overseas market in territories with suitable ...

aircraft on 13 January 1953. The aviation facilities at Kochi were transferred to the Indian Navy and temporarily placed under the command of naval base, ''INS Venduruthy'', on 1 January 1953 to prepare for operating the aircraft. The first Sealand aircraft arrived in Kochi from the UK on 4 February 1953. The facilities were commissioned as a fully operational naval air station under the command of the Indian Naval Air Arm on 11 May 1953 and renamed ''INS Garuda''. Commodore G Douglas, was its first Commanding Officer. Since then, ''INS Garuda'' has remained a strategic operating station for the navy, with several training schools, intelligence centres, maintenance and repair facilities and experimental stations based here. A separate

civil enclave A joint-use airport is an aerodrome that is used for both military aviation and civil aviation. They typically contain facilities of both a civil airport and a military air base. By country United States The United States has several joint-use ...

for domestic travellers was allowed to operate at ''INS Garuda'', which remained operational until July 1999, when the

Cochin International Airport Cochin International Airport is an International airport serving the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. Located at Nedumbassery, about northeast of the city centre, Cochin International Airport is first of its kind which is develo ...

was commissioned. The 747 Squadron of the Indian Coast Guard was activated on 22 Apr 2002 within the premises of Naval Base Kochi. The Squadron operates two

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 ...

aircraft.

Units

''INS Garuda'' has 2 intersecting runways, allowing almost all operational aircraft to land and take off. Data current as of October 2006. Indian Naval Air Squadrons based at ''INS Garuda'' as of 2011 include: *

INAS 550 The INAS 550 is an Indian naval air squadron based at INS Venduruthy, Kochi. History The oldest squadron of the Indian Navy, this was the unit where Naval Aviation was born, where it all began, and from where it grew and spread its wings to ...

, 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 ( skirmishe ...

squadron operating

aircraft *

INAS 336 The INAS 336 is an Indian naval air squadron based at INS Garuda, Kochi . History Ever since its inception, the submarine has been one of the most important factors in deciding the fate of sea battles. With this in mind, the Indian Naval Hea ...

, an

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typ ...

and advanced training squadron, operating

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engi ...

Mk 42B helicopters *

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 cen ...

, a

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

and logistics squadron, 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 fig ...

helicopters *

INAS 342 INAS 342 is an Indian Naval air squadron, operating unmanned aerial vehicles, based at INS Garuda, Kochi. History Two different UAV's, IAI Heron and Searcher Mark II, were acquired from IAI Malat by the Indian Navy in December 2002. The aim ...

, operating

IAI Heron The IAI Heron (Machatz-1) is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Malat (UAV) division of Israel Aerospace Industries. It is capable of Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) operations of up to 52 ...

and

IAI Searcher The IAI Searcher (also known by the Hebrew name מרומית ''Meyromit'' - "Marsh tern", or officially in Israel as the חוגלה ''Hugla'' - "Alectoris") is a reconnaissance UAV developed in Israel in the 1980s. In the following decade, it re ...

Mk. II UAVs ''INS Garuda'' also has a number of naval aviation training schools: * ''Observer School'' trains pilots and technical personnel in maritime reconnaissance, patrol, evacuation and search and rescue (SAR) missions * ''School for Naval Airmen'' (SFNA) and the ''Naval Institute of Aviation Technology (NIAT)'' impart theoretical training to naval aviation personnel and those associated with flying operations * ''Aeronautical Training Institute'' (ATI) conducts training for officers and sailors in aircraft maintenance * ''School for Naval Oceanography and Meteorology'' (SNOM) ''INS Garuda'' also has facilities for imparting training in airborne anti-submarine operations affiliated with the ''Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) School'' on INS Venduruthy. The school's facilities include a Thales Underwater Systems LOFAR ( Low Frequency Analysis & Recording) training simulator.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:INS Garuda Airports in Kerala Buildings and structures in Kochi

Garuda Garuda ( Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garu ...

Transport in Kochi 1953 establishments in India Military airbases established in 1953

History

Post-independence

Units

See also

References

External links