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indian navy | Del'd: 43 - 1971 to present
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| History of this Model in this Organisation: | | |
4 variations of Sea King have seen service with the Indian Navy - Mk.42, 42A, 42B and the assault Mk.42C. After investigations began in 1968, initial approval for 6 given in Apr 1969 and the Mk.42 (the anti-submarine version of the RN HAS.1) ordered in 1970. Pilot training commenced on 27 Sep 1970 and first two examples of a batch of 12 were handed over on 3 Nov 1970 at Yeovil and the remainder were delivered by 1971, going on to form INAS 330. By Dec 2005, this production batch had largely expired its flying hours. Performance and efficiency were disappointing during the Dec 1971 war with Pakistan and an intensive training and work programme between 1972 and 1974 improved both servicablility and equipment performance.  The first orders were followed by 3 more in Jul 1972 and a further 3 in May 1973, delivered by end of 1974. A third batch of 3 Mk.42A was ordered with haul-down-onto-flight-deck option (RAST - recovery assist traverse) fitted was ordered in Jul 1977 and delivered from Nov 1979. An investigation for 20 more at Mk.42B standard (as both updates and replacements) was proposed in 1982, where it beat the Super Puma in competition. The Mk 42B with the Gnome H1400-T engine and equipped with Sea Eagle anti-shipping missile, to be roughly equivalent to Pakistan's Exocet armed version. In the event, 18 were ordered (12 Mk.42B and 6 Mk.42C for the Marines) in 1983 with deliveries from May 1985 and the Mk.42Cs from Sep 1986. A further 8x 42B were ordered later. Another period of service anxiety began following the May 1998 Nuclear Tests, when the supply of spares was reduced as part of sanctions. Operations scaled down and SAR role undertaken by the Chetak until sanctions were relaxed in early 2001. The Sea King has been primarily ship deployed (carrier, Delhi Class destroyers and Godaviri class frigates). The operational experience gained has informed the specification and design of the HAL Dhurv. |
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| Construction Numbers of this Model in this Organisation: | Help Us | |
| C/N | Mod | Built | ID In this Organisation | In other Org |
| wa 988  | mk42b | 1989 | IN525: Mk 42B, ff 29 Mar 1989 as ZG612. Del to Indian Navy as IN525 14 Sep 1989. Wore /W by Feb 2001. While with 330 Sq on 26 Mar 2003 it either ditched off Goa or fell off the deck of the carrier INS Viraat. Noted dumped at INS Garuda, Kochi (Cochin) in 2003 with tail boom torn away near fuselage joint.
IN525: Suspected tail rotor failure while approaching to land on the carrier INS Viraat. Ditched in the wake. All four crew survived
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| wa 991 | mk42b | 1989 | IN528: Mk.42B ff 18 May 1989 as ZG615, dd 30 Nov 1989 to Indian Navy as IN528. Carried code /W by Mar 1999, still Jul 2005 when embarked on INS Mumbai (D62).
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| 2 C/N found in this Organisation
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