HISTORY
BSF Air Wing was established in the year 1969 with purchase of One Second hand Queen Air C – 80 Aircraft from His Majesty King of Nepal for transportation of DG BSF. On the basis of usage of aircraft for airlifting purpose and lessons learnt from Indo – Pak war in the year 1971, BSF Air Wing was expanded by induction of fleet of 5 Dakota DC – 3 aircraft on experimental basis to meet the exclusive requirements of BSF. Subsequently, in order to optimise resources and costs, BSF Air Wing services were extended to other CAPFs and also for MHA special tasks and Internal Security duties. BSF Air Wing, with its multiplicity of aircraft, carries out missions across the entire spectrum to meet the functional and operational requirements of MHA, CAPFs and other agencies of MHA.
ARCHIVE
ARCHIVE OF AIR ASSETS INDUCTION SCHEDULE
- 1969 - Air Wing Established with 01 Queen Aircraft.
- 1972-1974 - Five Dakota Aircraft inducted.
- 1982-1984 - Two SKA-B200 Aircraft inducted.
- 1982-91 - Five AVRO Aircraft completely replaced Dakota.
- 1989 - One Chetak helicopter inducted.
- 1994 - One SKA B-200 aircraft inducted.
- 1997 - One Cheetah helicopter inducted.
- 2003 - Six MI-17 1V helicopters inducted.
- 2005 - One Embraer aircraft inducted.
- 2009-12 - Eight ALH/Dhruv helicopters inducted.
- 2014-15 - Eight Mi-17 V5 helicopters inducted.
CURRENT HOLDING OF AIR ASSETS
- Embraer 135 BJ - 01
- Mi-17 V5 Helicopter - 08
- Mi-17 1V Helicopter - 06
- ALH/Dhruv Helicopter - 06
- Cheetah Helicopter - 01
ROLES
- Official visits of the Ministers in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Union Home Secretary, Directors General of CAPFs and other senior Officers of Ministry of Home Affairs above the rank of Joint Secretary.
- Operational commitments of CAPFs including airlifting of ration and supplies for the air maintained BOPs, air lifting of personnel in connection with the maintenance of internal security, law & order, crime control, security of vital installations, VIP security, evacuation of CAPFs personnel seriously wounded in action, evacuation of seriously ill CAPF personnel on the specific recommendation of the Director, Medical of the CAPF concerned or other such purposes.
- Airlifting the mortal remains of CAPF personnel killed in action/ died on duty.
- Operational commitments for disaster management such as delivering relief material, carrying relief teams and evacuation/ airlifting of affected persons/ errands of mercy in case of acute distress caused by natural calamities or other factors, etc.
- Official visits of Indian delegations/ MHA Delegations to other countries.
- Ferry of Air Assets to foreign counties for major repairs and maintenance as and when so required.
- For carriage of any personnel or any other commitments authorized/ communicated by the MHA including reconnaissance flights, communication trials, flights for security purposes etc.
- Any other tasks assigned by the Home Minister/ Home Secretary from time to time.
AIRBASES
Following airbases have been approved by MHA for operation of Aircraft and all of them are operationally functional:-
- Palam Airport, Delhi : Fixed Wing Aircraft.
- Safdarjang Airport, Delhi : Rotary Wing (Mi-17) Helicopters
- Raipur Airport : ALH Helicopters
- Ranchi Airport : ALH & Mi-17 Helicopters
- Guwahati Airport : Mi-17 Helicopter
- Agartala Airport : ALH Helicopter
- Srinagar : Mi-17 & Cheetah Helicopter
Proposal for basing helicopters at Jodhpur, Dehradun and Silchar is also under consideration.