A few months ago, I had written an article advocating reform of the organisational structure responsible for training in the Indian Navy titled “Reconstituting the Education Branch” . Quite predictably, the Education Branch has seen this as the declaration of a turf war and has tried to justify the reasons for it’s existence thereby completely missing the point that training in the Indian Navy is actually conducted by the different professional branches ( Executive, Engineering, Electrical, Logistics, Submarine, Aviation, etc.) and not by the Education Branch. This is achieved through instructors from respective professional branches being appointed to various institutes, establishments, colleges and training schools like the Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology, INS Valsura, INS Shivaji, INS Dronacharya, Signal School, ND School, ASW School, etc., for durations usually ranging from two...
On 10 May 1964, more than 54 years ago, the first fighter aircraft to be designed, developed and manufactured in India was delivered to the Indian Air Force by Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) at Bangalore. The aircraft was the twin-engined fighter / bomber HF-24 (Marut or, Spirit of the Tempest), billed as Asia’s first supersonic fighter aircraft. It apparently took just 08 years from conception to realisation, a herculean feat by the design team led by Dr. Kurt Tank (of World War II, German Focke-Wulfe fame) and the production team of HAL . Glider trials began within 22 months of commencement of design with assembly of the first prototype ( serial number BR 462) being completed in 1960-61. The prototype underwent ground trials in March 1961 with first flight taking place on 24 June 1961 . A total of almost 150 Marut aircraft were produced...