Naval aerobatics wow Vizagites

Monday February 13 2006

VISHAKHAPATNAM: It was a memorable Sunday for Vizagites as the four-month long preparations to the President’s Fleet Review (PFW) peaked with the navy personnel presenting some of their best operational displays to the denizens.

While the aerobatic team of the Indian Navy - Sagar Pawan captivated the audience with their breath-taking manoeuvres, especially one for lovers on the eve of Valentines Day, the Marine Commandos (MARCOS), who undertake covert and overt operations, won applause for flawlessly “blowing up the enemy’s oil rig to cripple its movements in the sea.

Travelling at a speed of 600 kmph, the four aircraft of the Sagar Pawan led by Lt Commander Yashwant Karkare and separated by a distance of 10 feet made several loops and painted the azure with blue, orange, red and yellow plumes of smoke for about 20 minutes.

Dedicating one of their items to the lovers on the eve of Valentines Day, two Sagar Pawan aircraft scored a perfect ten by drawing a heart with cupid’s arrow in the sky. The high-speed fast attack crafts (FACs) by the warships and the rocket firing and missile firing demonstrations at the fag end of the show enthralled the viewers.

President A P J Abdul Kalam was the chief guest of the two-hour programme, which concluded with fire works and a concert by the Naval Band.

In between, three Sea Harriers, the prime fighter aircraft of the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier INS Viraat demonstrated their prowess by taking off vertically to blast an enemy’s target.

Also called White Tigers, these planes can fly at a height of 250 feet with speed reachig up to 200 to 250 nautical miles without getting noticed by the enemy radar.

INS Mysore, one of the top warships of the Indian Navy along with INS Ranvijay, INS Ranjith and INS Talwar demonstrated their ability to strike at enemy submarines by firing anti-submarine rockets, which would go down the sea and explode on the enemy vessel rendering it useless.

INS Khutar also fired surface-to-surface missile as part of the show.

Earlier, the Indian Navy’s skydiving team comprising eight members carried out jumping operation from a Seaking helicopter from 7,000 feet, which included a free fall up to 3,000 feet and opened their parachutes later.

The President released a special publication, which was handed over to him by Lt Cdr Rashmi Singh, the only woman sky diving instructor, after she dived from a height of over 5,000 feet.

Kalam also released a special stamp brought out by the Postal Department to commemorate the occasion.