BY: Newindpress




The Indian Navy's largest aircraft Tupolev TU-142, also called Bear-F, landed on the Naval Air Station INS Dega's extended runway here on Monday morning to test its suitability for operation of Naval aircraft.

It marked a major achievement of enhancing the operational capabilities of Eastern Naval Command (ENC) at INS Dega and providing greater flexibility to Naval air operations.

The TU 142s are Naval maritime reconnaissance (MR) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft larger than an Airbus in size and weight and they can fly non-stop over distances greater than that covered by a Boeing 747.

These huge aircraft were inducted into the Indian Navy at Goa on March 30, 1988 and they form part of the Indian Naval Air Squadron 312 of INS Rajali, Arakkonam.

TU 142M, the largest and the fastest flying turbo-prop aircraft in the world, plays a crucial role in long range ASW and MR operations and has participated in various Naval operations like Operation Cactus in Maldives and Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka.

The aircraft commanded by Commander Gopal Natarajan, was received by ENC's Chief Staff Officer (Operations) Commodore LVS Babu. He presented a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the ENC Flag Officer Commanding - in - Chief Vice-Admiral RP Suthan, to Commander Gopal Natarajan and INS Dega Commanding Officer Captain G Prakash.