In August 1999, the Indian Navy placed an order for four Ka-31 helicopters and a contract for an additional five was signed in February 2001. Total value of all nine helicopters is estimated at US $207 million. The first Ka-31 for the Indian Navy made its debut flight on 16 May 2001 and the first two of nine Ka-31 helicopters completed tests at the Kamov's Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow. The first batch of four aircraft was officially inducted into the Indian Naval Air Arm in April 2003 and the second batch arrived by the end of 2004. In Indian Navy service, these helicopters operate from surface combatants and shore bases. Due to its limitations in terms of endurance, the helicopter will be fitted with a helicopter-to-helicopter in-flight refuelling capability. The first three photographs in this album were taken on 10 February 2006, at INS Dega in Vizag, during the Presidential Fleet Review at the Eastern Naval Command. The other images were scanned from a Kamov brochure, which illustrates the capabilities of this Russian AEW [Airborne Early Warning] helicopter. The third page in the brochure depicts IN 561 [both corners] ---» the Indian Navy's first helicopter in the Ka-31 series.

Photographs © Mrityunjoy Mazumdar

Brochure Images © Kamov via Paul Martell-Mead