Indian Air Force is planning to set up a training base at Kodiakarai, a coastal town Tamil Nadu, and an aerial survey has been conducted to identify the site for the project.  IAF has already established a RADAR station at Kodiakarai for surveillance along the Palk Bay and Palk Strait. The Union Defence Ministry has requested the state government to allot land for the training base at Kodiakarai.

Officials of the Indian Air Force led by Captain A S Abhyankar, Air Wing Commander, Thanjavur Air Force Station, and Nagapattinam District Collector S Pazhaniswamy undertook an aerial survey of the 22,000 acre land owned by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department in Kodiakarai area. Pazhaniswamy said the district administration would submit a report to the state government on the findings of the aerial survey for further action.

Did You Know?

• India is building the 5th generation Sukhoi PAK FA in collaboration with Russia.
• The IAF got its first woman Air Marshal in the form of Padmavathy Bandopadhyay.
• The first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Sir Thomas Walker Elmhirst, made the IAF an independent service under no control of the Army.
• The honourary rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force is the highest achievable rank, and is equivalent to the rank of Field Marshal of the Indian Army.
• The IAF is the fourth largest, professionally acclaimed, strategic Air Force in the world. With 16 air bases, the Western Air Command is the largest Air Command.
• At 22,000 ft (or 6,706 m), Siachen Glacier AFS is the highest Air Force Station of the IAF.