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| An Indian Navy P8I Neptune at BOM. |
The Indian Navy has established a new Air Enclave at Mumbai airport (BOM). The Indian Naval Air Enclave, Santacruz (NAE Scz) has a large hangar and dispersal area located adjacent to the airport's main Runway. The enclave was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy on 1st February 2017.
This is a significant development from the point of view of Naval Operations, since, it now provides Indian Navy, capability to stage through all types of fixed wing aircraft held in the Naval Inventory including the highly potent and versatile Boeing P8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft. This gives a major boost to the surveillance and offensive measures on the areas of interest in the Western Seaboard.
P8I LRMR aircraft are presently operating from their base at Arakkonam, near Chennai. With the operationalization of the NAE at Santa Cruz, the Indian Navy can operate the P8I’s from this enclave thereby enabling them to operate for longer durations in the Arabian Sea resulting in vast area coverage.
In his address, Vice Admiral Girish Luthra complimented the efforts of all those involved in creating this facility. He said that the city of Mumbai and Indian Navy have had long standing relations which were not restricted to the Dockyard or harbour areas. He amplified that, decades ago, naval helicopters and Super Constellation surveillance aircrafts operated from the same airport. He thanked, among others, the Airport Authority of India, Mumbai International Airport Limited (the airport operators), the Central Industrial Security force (CISF), Air India, contractors and Military Engineering Service for their support and co-operation in operationalizing this facility and solicited their continued support and cooperation in the future.
