NEW DELHI: In a significant move to strengthen the reconnaissance capability of India along the western seaboard, the Indian Navy has raised a new Naval Reconnaissance Air Squadron under the Western Naval Command (WNC) headquartered in Mumbai.
The Indian Navy on Monday said, “Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 316, Indian Navy's second P-8l aircraft squadron, will be commissioned on 29 March at INS Hansa, Goa, in the presence of Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff.”
INAS 316 will operate the Boeing P-8l, the sophisticated multi-role long range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare (LRMR ASW) aircraft. The aircraft is powered by twin jet engines and can be equipped with air-to-ship missiles and torpedoes.
“INAS 316 will operate the second batch of four additional aircraft acquired, adding teeth to the armour of the Indian Navy, to deter, detect and destroy any threat to the nation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR),” the Navy said.
INAS 316 has been christened 'The Condors', after one of the largest flying birds in the world. The insignia of the squadron depicts a Condor searching over the blue expanse of the sea.
The raising of reconnaissance unit INAS 316 has taken place after 45 years.
The Indian Navy had acquired the first batch of eight P-8I aircraft in 2013 that are stationed at INS Rajali, Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu, as part of the INAS 312 “Albatross”.
INAS 312 was a functional unit operating the Tupolev-142 (Tu-142) aircraft which got decommissioned in March 2017 and the Squadron has been operating only P8I aircraft since then.
The vast area of responsibility under the WNC stretches up to the Persian Gulf and the East Coast of Africa including the Arabian Sea and western parts of Indian Ocean.