Thaindian News

Kochi, Feb 1 (IANS) The Naval Aircraft Yard (NAY) here will Friday celebrate the completion of its 50 years of service, a statement said.The press release issued here by the defence public relations officer Tuesday said the celebrations lined up included a national seminar on “Innovative approaches to sustenance of naval aviation maintenance infrastructure in the coming decades”.

A large number of serving and retired Navy officers are expected to join in the celebrations.

NAY Kochi started in 1956, when a small fleet repair unit was set up here by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore to repair and maintain Navy aircraft.

In 1960, the Indian Navy took over the responsibility of this facility and commissioned it as the Naval Aircraft Repair Organization (NARO).

Over the years, NARO grew to a full fledged industrial establishment with state-of-the-art facilities for repair of aircraft, engines, avionics and their components.

The facility was redesignated as Naval Aircraft Yard in 1981.

In the late nineties, contemporary facilities such as engine repair and overhaul facility, Centre for Avionics Repairs and Software Development, Structural Repair Facility and many other workshops for component repairs of aircraft were set up.

Currently, there are 600 employees on its rolls, out of which nearly 430 are civilian personnel.

NAY Kochi has many significant achievements to its name, such as the refurbishment of Alize aircraft, modifications to Chetak helicopters for the first ever aero magnetic survey of Antarctica in 1987, conversion of Islander aircraft from piston engine to turbine engine in 1996, and suitable modification to Seaking helicopters to overcome sanctions post-Pokhran, the statement added.

NAY also has the honour of overhauling and repairing the Sea Harrier aircraft.