Vice Admiral Bimal Verma today took charge of the Andaman & Nicobar Command from senior most submariner Pradeep Kumar Chatterjee who retired leaving behind a strong legacy.
Vice Admiral Verma was part of the commissioning crew of aircraft carrier INS Viraat, besides having been Signal Communication Officer of INS Ganga and Fleet Communication Officer of Western Fleet.
He was the Commanding Officer of amphibious platforms such as INS Shardul and Magar, missile destroyer INS Ranjit and guided missile destroyer INS Mysore.
Chatterjee, an alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun and National Defence Academy, Pune, was commissioned into Indian Navy on January 1, 1977. The Flag Officer commanded ships as well as submarines, notable among these being the 'Type 1500' submarines and guided missile destroyer INS Rajput.
During his tenure as the 12th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN), from June 1, 2014, he set benchmarks which will now guide the next generation of officers to emulate, the navy said.
Under his stewardship, some notable achievements of the navy include being the first responder with relief material to Visakhapatnam, Eastern Naval Command, during Cyclone Hudhud, unmanned aerial vehicle operations from Port Blair and Carnic.
His efforts also resulted in night landings at Port Blair and revalidation of numerous Operating procedures at the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
His thrust area of infrastructure and accretions resulted in basing of fast interceptor craft in outlying islands and construction of operational shelters at Kamorta, Neil and Hut Bay.
One of his visionary implementation was the placing of "eyes & ears" along the west coast of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which has resulted in increased surveillance and monitoring of uninhabited islands and locations, the navy said.
(REOPENS MDS3)
The Navy chief said the outgoing TU142M "has alwyas
inspired respect and admiration."
Tracing its journey, he recalled it was inducted in the Indian Navy in the late 80s and had empowered the force with "unprecedented long range maritime reconnaissance, anti- submarine warfare capability."
"At the time of their induction, their speed and endurance were among the best in the world. These qualities gave them considerable tactical advantage in the air. Till date they have served with distinction," Admiral Lanba said.
Besides the IPKF operations, it also played a "crucial role" in Operation Cactus in Maldives in 1988 where fleeing mercenaries were detected and tracked by the aircraft before they were apprehended by Navy ships, he recalled.
Even in this month's TROPEX 2017 exercise, the ageing squadron had "performed admirably" where they had put in 53 hours of flight, Lanba said.
On the new fleet of P8-I Boeing, the Navy chief said eight of the total 12 "state-of-the-art" aircraft have already been inducted while the rest will join the force in coming years.
"P8-I Boeing is a long range anti submarine warfare aircraft. It is a modern aircraft, but more importantly it has modern sensors and systems in it in the form of radars, electronics and weapons. There is quantum change in the technology" (compared to TU142M), he said.
"It is best in the world at the moment. We are the (one of the) first two navies to induct it simultaneously with the US. We have been operating it for three years. It is a force multiplier and a great capability enhancement in the navy," Lanba added.
The aircraft has been "fully integrated into Navy's operations and was the "most potent anti submarine platforms that the Indian Navy possesses today," he added.
INS Rajali also celebrated its silver jubilee today.
A special Postal Cover was released to mark the occasion while a plaque, containing the names of all the Commanding Officers of the station, and the various aircraft here, was unveiled by Lanba.
