The Hindu : Kerala News : `Navy has realised potential of Wright brothers' invention'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 18, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

`Navy has realised potential of Wright brothers' invention'

Staff Reporter

We are confident of our embarked flying, says Vice Admiral J.S. Bedi

MEMORABLE OCCASION: Mariamma Thomas, Director of Postal Services, Kochi, presenting the First Day cover to Vice Admiral J.S. Bedi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, during the golden jubilee celebrations of the School for Nava l Airmen in the city on Thursday.

KOCHI: In the maritime domain, the Navy has fully realised the potential of the invention by the Wright Brothers of using the flying machine as a fleet scout. Within four-and-a-half decades of the birth of naval aviation, the Indian Navy decided to go in for its own fleet air arm, Vice Admiral J.S. Bedi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, said on Thursday.

"Today we are confident of our embarked flying. This valuable experience we have gained enables us to feel confident today that Vikramaditya (aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov), with her potent squadrons of Mig-29K and KA-31, poses no problem for us," he said.

Vice Admiral Bedi was inaugurating the golden jubilee celebrations of the School for Naval Airmen (SFNA), premier aviation training establishment of the Navy in Kochi.

"As we stand on the threshold to induct the Mig 29K, Light Combat Aircraft and the new Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft, which will certainly pose a challenge, I am confident that SFNA with its dynamic planning is already working on these issues and updating its training methodology to man and operate these aircraft safely. The school has to play a vital role in amalgamation of men and machine while catering for high technology intensive new induction equipment," he said.

Mariamma Thomas, Director of Postal Services, Kochi, released a First Day cover to commemorate 50 years of SFNA. Vice Admiral Bedi released the `Golden Jubilee Book' and a memento.

A symposium on `Changing face of Naval Aviation' was organised at the Naval Base. Four papers were presented.

The first paper on `Search and rescue in maritime environment,' presented by Cdr. C. Subhash and Lt. Cdr. T.G.S. Bedi, dealt with the issues of air crashes in sea and the need to acquaint personnel with the challenges of the environment in the sea, life-saving equipment and systems, and the existing organisational and new initiatives in search and rescue procedures.

Surgeon Cdr. S.S. Mahapatra spoke on `Survival at Sea,' while Lt. Cdrs. Binu Varghese and Madhavi Patri presented a paper on `Air traffic management' for the modern Air Traffic Controller.

Ajith Kumar, Manager (Fire) at the Cochin International Airport, spoke on `Modern trends in aircraft fire and rescue operations'.

Rear Admiral S.M. Vadgaonkar, Flag Officer Naval Aviation, delivered the closing address. Present at the symposium were Rear Admiral Rajender Singh, Chief of Staff; Rear Admiral M.P. Muralidharan, Flag Officer Sea Training, and a large number of officers and sailors.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala