NEW DELHI – Indian Navy is all set to commission a new operational Airbasein the Country, Indian media has reported.
India has upgraded a runway strip in the northern part of the Andaman andNicobar Islands into a full-fledged airbase. The new airbase, INS Kohasa,will be under the command of the Indian Navy.
The airbase is meant to strengthen India’s monitoring capabilities in themost critical part of the Indian Ocean Region, which is seeing increasedChinese muscle-flexing.
Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba is set to commission (Indian Naval Station)INS Kohasa on January 24 at Diglipur on North Andaman. The location hadearlier been the site of (Naval Air Station) NAS Shibpur, which wasestablished in 2001.
NAS Shibpur had been used as a waystation for Dornier aircraft and Chetakhelicopters which were on the way to conduct monitoring and surveillanceoperations in the North Andaman Islands region.
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Facilities have been expanded and upgraded to a full-fledged naval airbase.The need for a new airbase had been felt considering the three existingairbases are far away from the North Andaman Islands.
Officials have said once the new and extended runway is in place, it couldhelp improve domestic air connectivity under the Centre’s Udaan scheme.
