New Delhi: The Indian Navy Tuesday decommissioned the Ilyushin-38 Sea Dragon Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft after 46 years of service.
The decommissioning ceremony was held at INS Hansa in Dabolim, Goa, where Chief of Naval Staff Adm R Hari Kumar and other dignitaries were present.
The naval squadron INAS 315 was commissioned on 1 October 1977 with the induction of IL-38 aircraft, meant for airborne long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare.
The Indian Navy said in a statement, “With its unique capabilities, striking prowess and extended reach covering the vast Indian Ocean region, the IL-38 SD has over the years proven itself to be a formidable force-multiplier.” The Squadron had the crest of a ‘Winged Stallion’.
In its last leg of operations, the aircraft enabled integration of indigenous Sahayak Air Droppable Containers, which provide critical logistics support to units deployed at sea and trial platform for indigenous torpedoes.
The aircraft featured for the first and last time in the Republic Day fly-past.
The IL-38 was the oldest maritime surveillance aircraft in the Indian inventory. The aircraft were gradually replaced with the American P8i manufactured by Boeing. The first IL-38 was decommissioned last year after it completed 44 years of service.
With these aircraft, the Navy could undertake airborne long-range maritime reconnaissance capabilities combined with long-range anti-submarine search and strike, anti-shipping strike, electronic signal intelligence and distant search and rescue missions.
The aircraft was used for other operations as well. For instance, in January 1978, it was used on board Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) equipment to locate the wreckage of the Air India Jumbo which crashed soon after take-off off the Mumbai coast.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)