BHUBANESWAR: In a big step towards improving maritime safety and conducting search and rescue operations, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) officially commissioned its 830 Squadron on Sunday by stationing a new advanced light helicopter here (ALH) MK-III.
General Manager ICG VS Pathania has commanded the squadron which will extensively cover the Odisha-West Bengal coast in an official ceremony at the ICG Air Enclave here.
A total of 16 ALH MK-III helicopters will be integrated into the ICG. Twelve have already been included in the squadron with four deployed to Bhubaneswar to cover the entire coasts of West Bengal and Odisha and beyond. They will enhance ICG’s maritime capabilities, Pathania said.
Under the “Make in India” initiative, ALH MK-III helicopters were developed and manufactured locally by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bengaluru. The helicopters are equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and modern surveillance radar/electro-optical equipment to perform long-range maritime reconnaissance.
The helicopters are equipped with Shakti engines, a fully glazed cockpit, a high intensity searchlight, a traffic alert and collision avoidance system, an advanced communication system, a automatic identification system, a search and rescue homer and an automatic flight control system. They are also equipped with a heavy machine gun to undertake policing missions at sea and a portable medical intensive care unit (MICU) to facilitate the movement of critically ill patients during medical evacuations.
830 Squadron at the ICG Air Enclave in Bhubaneswar launched on June 17, 2021. It has since flown over 1,200 hours and conducted numerous operational missions such as medical evacuations, day/night operational limitations ship- helicopter (SHOL), test landings at heliports in Odisha and West Bengal region, among others.
830 Squadron (CG) is commanded by Commander Anurup Singh. It is made up of 11 officers and 46 staff. The four helicopters are positioned in Bhubaneswar within the operational command of Coastguard District Headquarters, Odisha, and under Coastguard Region (Northeast), Kolkata.
