INS Rajali | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Naval Air Station | ||||||||||
| Operator | Indian Navy | ||||||||||
| Location | Arakkonam,Ranipet district,Tamil Nadu | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 285 ft / 87 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 13°04′16″N079°41′28″E / 13.07111°N 79.69111°E /13.07111; 79.69111 | ||||||||||
 Interactive map of INS Rajali | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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INS Rajali, (IATA:N/A,ICAO:VOAR) is an Indiannaval air station located nearArakkonam,Chennai Metropolitan Area,Ranipet district,Tamil Nadu in southernIndia. It operates under theSouthern Naval Command of the Indian Navy,[1] and has the longest military runway inAsia.[2]
The airfield atArakkonam was constructed in early 1942, for use byAllies of World War II. The first recorded air operations from the field took place when the No. 2 Squadron of theRoyal Indian Air Force, flyingWestland Lysander aircraft flew support missions for theBritish Indian Army between May and Sep 1942.
The airfield was abandoned after the war and lay unused until the 1980s, when it was transferred to the Indian Navy who rehabilitated and commissioned the airfield asINS Rajali. INS Rajali was commissioned on 11 March 1992. The commissioning commanding officer was Captain RS Vasan, who subsequently retired in the rank of commodore while on deputation to theIndian Coast Guard as the Regional Commander of Coast Guard Region East. Rajali, named after a bird, was commissioned by thenPresidentR. Venkataraman. The upgraded airbase became home to ananti-submarine warfare squadron, INAS 312, which moved here fromINS Hansa inGoa. On 16 April 1988, theTupolev Tu-142MK-E aircraft were commissioned into the squadron by the thenDefence Minister,K. C. Pant, atINS Hansa. The Albatross as they are called celebrated the silver jubilee of induction at Rajali.[3] The replacement aircraft for the TU 142 M are P8i Poseidon and eight of them have started operating from Rajali. The Helicopter Training School which operated from INS Garuda was shifted to Rajali from July 1991 in the year of commissioning itself and has been training rotary-wing pilots of the Navy and the Coast Guard ever since. This self-contained base celebrated its silver jubilee on 11 March 2017.Boeing will establish a training facility spanning 60,000 sq ft for theP-8I Neptune by 2021.[4]
INS Rajali now spans 2,320 acres (9.4 km2) and has the longest military runway inAsia.[5]
During the2015 South India Floods whenChennai International Airport was closed due to floodwaters, INS Rajali was used as a makeshift airport for relief operations as well as limited commercial flights.[6] Some passengers had been brought from flooded areas by helicopter.[7] Commuter services on theChennai Suburban Railway were operated fromArakkonam Junction for the benefit of passengers coming by air through Rajali.[8]
INS Rajali is home to the navy'sINAS 312 squadron which operatesP-8I Neptune
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