“A journey that commenced on October 01, 1977, with the commissioning of the Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 315 at Goa, ends with the de-induction of the IL-38 today,” said Commander Mrinmoy Ghosh, Commanding Officer of the ‘Winged Stallions’ squadron addressing the members of the Commissioning crew and numerous others who gathered along with their families for the de-induction ceremony at INS Hansa last week. Cheers erupted from the crowd while several became emotional reminiscing their long association with the aircraft that served for 46 years.
The IL-38 Sea Dragon heralded long range maritime surveillance for the force and now the Navy has Dorniers at the lower end and the P-8Is at the higher end of surveillance and is looking to induct C-295 aircraft in the medium range Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) role in the near future in addition to adding more long endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).
“The aircraft (IL-38) has laid the foundation for long range patrol as well Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) for the Indian Navy. It has good Electronic Intelligence, Signal Intelligence and sensor capability. We used the aircraft in all major operations and exercises... Over a period of time it gets difficult to maintain the aircraft, and its coming to the end of its service life. Old has to give way to new,” Adm. Kumar said speaking to the media after the de-induction ceremony.
The glorious journey of ‘Winged Stallions’ over the last four and a half decades, clocking over 52,000 hours of operational flying showcases the focused efforts of all Stallions present in Panaji today, especially our aircrew, technical officers and sailors, civilians who have worked tirelessly to keep the oldest aircraft in the Indian Navy’s inventory flying and ensuring all tasks are met, Cdr. Ghosh said on its performance.
In due course, the aircraft went through a major upgrade getting the Sea Dragon suite significantly augmenting their capabilities. In a tragic mid-air collision in 2002, two IL-38s collided and crashed at a celebration to mark the silver jubilee as well over 30,000 hours of accident-free flying, killing 17 including four pilots. Two of the five aircraft were lost.
“The squadron has had a total of seven airframes in its lifetime. 301….307. Every airframe that has graced our squadron has had a soul, and today, as the propellers of seven come to the final stop, and the aircraft gets de-energised, the soul of these seven sisters passes on to each Stallion here,” Cdr. Ghosh, also the squadron’s last CO, said addressing the gathering. The aircraft was part of the Republic Day flypast this year over the Kartavya path.
Post the de-induction, one aircraft is earmarked for the national maritime museum coming up at Lothal in Gujarat and another aircraft is going to Karnataka, the Navy Chief said. To questions on the revival of the squadron, he said INAS-315 will be revived noting that there are plans for another MPA to be inducted. “We have Dorniers and P-8I in the manned aircraft. We have a plan for the C-295 in the medium-range MPA role. Inducting those aircraft might take time. Or inducting some of the P-8I into this squadron. We are examining what is the best way forward.”
On the Naval modernisation and way forward, Adm. Kumar said the P-8I is a game changer in many ways and has phenomenal capability, used by a large number of navies, very good sensors and weapons capability, no issues with support as the airframe is common with aircraft used in the commercial field.
“It has been giving us very good service. We are very satisfied with their performance and we will see if we need to take up a case for more aircraft. We are examining that in light of the areas of interest that we need to keep under surveillance and the types of assets that we already have,” he stated. Adding that they now have P-8Is and Dorneirs, have searcher and Herons in the UAVs and will be getting MQ-9Bs. “Holistically, we have to see where are the gaps and how much more is required,” he added.
On the IL-38s achievements and prowess, Cdr. Ghosh said the contribution of the squadron in indigenisation programs has been immense. It is the only SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) capable aircraft in the Navy and has the unique capability of delivering spares, to warships that are deployed more than 2,000 km from the coast, using the Sahayak containers. “During the recently concluded Operational exercise TROPEX, the Squadron attained maximum confirmed engagements, be it surface, sub-surface or air asset, which clearly reflects the potent capability of the platform and the dedication of the crew.”
