No.118 Helicopter Unit Challengers Motto : Apatsu Mitram (A friend in time of need) Date Raised : 1971-11-22 Location : Guwahati The Units crest of 118 HU, AF "THE CHALLENGER" consists of three rotor blades superimposed over the mountain on top depicting snow clad mighty Himalayas and water on the bottom depicting the Brahamaputra river in all its glory. The scenario depicts the area of operations of 118 HU since inception (apart from the basic of VVIP/VIP, the Units also carries out Causality Evaluation as and when need arises). The Units has been operating into the far reaches of Himalayas doing Air Logistics in aid of the state government of Arunanchal Pradesh as well as the Indian Army deployed along the IB with neighboring China. Helicopters of the Units has been tasked with flood relief operation for the entire north east and has also undertaken extensive flood relief operations in the other parts of the country and the adjoining country of Bhutan. The Units was formed on 22 Nov 71 under the command of Wg Cdr RD Pant, VM, it was first Units to be equipped with the versatile MI-8 helicopters. The Units took an active part in IPKF operations in Srilanka in 1987. This Units has been providing assistance to civil authorities in entire North East, West Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. This being earmarked as a VIP Units, it has been involved in providing airlift to President, Vice President, Prime Minister of India and visiting foreign dignitaries on a number of occasions.
Aircraft Types operated over the years: |
Commanding Officers | |||||
03 Apr 72 - 02 Dec 73Wing CommanderRajendra Dev Pant4737 GD(P)COGuwahati | | 23 Feb 76 - 21 Aug 78Wing CommanderKevin Martin5074 GD(P)CO | 28 Aug 78 - 10 May 81Wing CommanderDinesh Chandra Kaushik6353 GD(P)CO | 11 May 81 - 17 Nov 83Wing CommanderKhushindhar Singh Bindra6863 GD(P)CO | |
| 08 Sep 86 - 17 Jul 88Wing CommanderChandra Dutt Upadhyay11336 GD(P)COGuwahati | 18 Jul 88 - 29 Dec 91Wing CommanderDhiraj Kumar Sawhney11874 GD(P)COGuwahati | 30 Dec 91 - 17 Oct 93Wing CommanderArun Kumar Dharamdas Sonpar13398 F(P)COGuwahati | | |
04 Jul 94 - 15 Jul 97Wing CommanderAnulya Chandra Bharali15049 F(P)COGuwahati | | 17 May 99 - 17 Jan 01Wing CommanderSantosh Suresh Kothari16788 F(P)COGuwahati | | 11 Aug 03 - 08 May 05Wing CommanderSubramaniam Ravi Vridhachalem18101 F(P)COGuwahati | |
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