Indian Navy Tu-142s phased out

IN317 in flight over the base

On 29 March 2016, the Indian Navy’s iconic Tu-142M ‘Bear-Foxtrot’ long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) and ASW aircraft were retired after 29 years of service with INAS 312 (‘Albatross’). Having comprehensively covered the Indian Navy’s long-range maritime patrol operations out of INS Rajali at Arakkonam in the state of Tamil Nadu (see Vayu VI/2014), Angad Singh of Vayu returned to this secluded air station to bid the Type farewell.

Indian Naval Air Station Rajali in 2017 is almost a different place compared to that in 2014. The entrance remains the same, but instead of the deafening roar of Sovietera turboprop engines driving massive eightbladed contra-rotating propellers, much quieter modern western CFM turbofans now create the decibels. The only Tupolevs that loom large over the foliage on this lush base are the bleached mothballed airframes parked by the south-western end of the massive runway (arguably the longest in South Asia). Only two Tu-142Ms of INAS 312 are still active. One has already been converted to a museum exhibit on the north side of the runway and all new construction underway is solely intended to support the eight new Boeing P-8Is that will supplant the Tu-142Ms. The capability and reliability leap from this transition does not need to pointed out, but one cannot help but sentimentally feel that the sleepy hamlet of Arakkonam is being robbed of much of its unique character!

As is the case with most Soviet (and latterly Russian) aircraft in service with the Indian military, the Tu-142M’s Achilles’ Heel has always been maintenance. The impressive capabilities of these machines are fielded through a massive maintenance effort both in India and Russia. The aircraft required overhaul in Russia at approximately 1,500-hour intervals, which meant each aircraft was dispatched to the Beriev Aircraft Company in Taganrog, Russia every 5 to 7 years depending on flying intensity. It took approximately one year to complete overhaul of a single aircraft, and 21 Indian Navy Tupolevs have been overhauled during the type’s 29 years of service. The last of these, IN317, was handed over to the Navy on 6 August 2014 at the Taganrog plant, before making the long journey back to Arakkonam.

With no aircraft lost to attrition since induction, and an impressive safety record of over 30,000 accident-free flying hours since the type’s induction, the principal driver behind the type’s retirement was the age of the aircraft and the effort required to keep them airworthy. Their operating costs were also viewed unfavourably compared to smaller aircraft such as the Il-38SDs of INAS 315 (‘Stallions’) or newer aircraft such as the P-8Is. With the arrival of the Boeing P-8I, it was decided that the Tu-142s would be phased out once they had been replaced one-for-one by the American aircraft. Around 2014, the MoD decided that no further Tu-142 overhauls would be sanctioned and that individual aircraft would be progressively withdrawn as they came up against their flying hour limits.

IN317 takes off past the short ATC tower at INS Rajali

On this writer’s visit to INS Rajali in October 2014, the squadron had three operational aircraft, four cannibalised or stored, and one being prepared for storage. By late 2016 only two (IN312 and 317) remained airworthy, and heavy checks were approaching. The Navy decided that the Tupolevs would be withdrawn after the annual month-long Theatre Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX) scheduled for January 2017, and in early March an out of service date of 29 March was then taken.

IN317 landing at Rajali

The retirement ceremony was timed to coincide with the Silver Jubilee of INS Rajali, which drew serving and retired officers from all over the country to the sleepy southern town. Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba, was Chief Guest, attending along with Vice Admiral HCS Bisht, Flag Officer Commanding- in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Flag Officer Naval Aviation, RAdm PK Bahl, and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air) RAdm Philipose G Pynumootil. Vice Admiral (ret.) Vinod Pasricha, who was instrumental in identifying and establishing Arakkonam as a naval air station in the 1980s, was also present. Master Chief Petty Officer Daler Singh, who was a member of the commissioning crew of the Tu-142s in 1988, had the unique distinction of serving with the type from induction through to its withdrawal from use, and was felicitated at the ceremony.

This Il-38SD from Goa took part in the flypast

IN317 receives a watercannon farewell salute as it returns to the apron

And so to bed

After the customary speeches, a ‘maritime patrol’-themed flypast took place over the base, led by three Chetaks from the co-located Helicopter Training School, followed by a pair of maritime recce Dornier 228s, a single Il-38SD from Goa, a single Tu-142 (IN317) flown by INAS 312 CO Cdr Yogendra Mair and the squadron Senior Pilot Cdr Rana S Dutt, with a lone Boeing P-8I bringing up the rear.

IN317 then landed and taxied to the P-8 apron, where it was received by a watercannon salute before parking next to a pre-positioned P-8I. Cdr Mair exited the aircraft and handed over command of the squadron to Cdr V Ranganathan, who had until then been heading the ‘Alpha flight’ or ‘A-flight’ of INAS 312, exclusively operating the P-8I. INAS 312A, unofficially nicknamed ‘Sky Lions,’ now took over the storied Albatross moniker as a lone P-8I flew low over the runway carrying out a spectacular dump of all 120 flares carried on board.

1st Day Cover commemorating the Silver Jubilee of INS Rajali            A Boeing P-81 passes dispensing flares 
 

The Tupolev personnel of INAS 312 will all find new berths in the Navy. Cdr Mair will move to HQ Naval Aviation at Goa, his Senior Pilot Cdr Dutt is going to INAS 550 at Cochin, while the two remaining Tu-142 pilots, Cdr Ranvir S Dhillon and Lt Cdr SS Tiwari, will convert to P-8Is, with training to be conducted on civilian simulators at a facility in Gurgaon, near New Delhi. The bulk of the engineering personnel will also convert to other types, with some remaining at Rajali on P-8Is, and others heading to Goa to offer much-needed manpower to the growing MiG-29K fleet at that station. The last two airworthy Tu-142s will soon make their way to other parts of the country to be preserved while they can still be flown, as breaking the aircraft down for transport is anticipated to be an impossibly expensive and time-consuming affair. A senior flag officer at Rajali stated that the Navy is “hoping to preserve as many Tu-142s as possible,” but acknowledged the difficulties involved.

Cdrs Mair and Ranganathan with a P-8I after the flypast at Arakkonam  

Admiral Sunil Lanba Chief of the Naval Staff with the women observers of P-8I (photo: PRO Navy)

Tu-142M on static display being inaugurated by Admiral Sunil Lanba Chief of the Naval Staff (photo PRO Navy

So, INAS 312 with Boeing P-8Is will become the largest naval air squadron in terms of personnel, tasking and infrastructure, and the Indian Navy has already ordered four more of the type, although these will probably operate from another base when they begin to arrive from 2019 onwards.

(Text and photos by Angad Singh except where marked