| INS Dega | |
| Icao: | VOVZ |
| Type: | Naval Air Station |
| Operator: | Indian Navy |
| Location: | Visakhapatnam, India |
| Pushpin Map: | India Andhra Pradesh #India |
| Pushpin Label: | VOVZ |
| Elevation-F: | 15 |
| Coordinates: | 17.7211°N 83.2244°W |
| Metric-Rwy: | y |
| R1-Number: | 05/23 |
| R1-Length-F: | 6,000 |
| R1-Length-M: | 1,829 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R2-Number: | 10/28 |
| R2-Length-F: | 10,007 |
| R2-Length-M: | 3,050 |
| R2-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Footnotes: | Source: DAFIF |
INS Dega, is a naval air station of the Indian Navy. It is located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh on the east coast of India.[1] [2]
The Indian Navy initially started aviation operations in Visakhapatnam in the late 1970s, with the construction of four helipads adjacent to the civil airfield. The civilian Visakhapatnam Airport was transferred to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in 1981. The air station was then called Naval Air Station, Visakhapatnam. Additional hangars, maintenance facilities and an operations complex were constructed soon after.
On 21 October 1991, the air station was renamed and formally commissioned as INS Dega by then Vice Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas.[3] It is named for the Telugu language word for a big and powerful bird of the eagle family.
Indian naval air squadrons based at INS Dega include:
As of 2014 preparations have begun to deploy and permanently base a full squadron of Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters to strengthen the security of India's eastern seaboard. In order to decrease the growing flight traffic in the base, a new base has been under consideration by the navy at Badangi, near Vizayanagaram
The plan for the expansion of the airbase envisages a massive increase in size as well as capabilities. In the final scenario, from the present size of 1100 acres, the INS Dega will be spread out to over 1500 acres.A parallel taxi track at the base is also in the offing which will cut down the runway occupancy time.[4]
On June 2, 2010, a HAL Chetak with four personnel crashed into Sarada River after clipping high tension wires.[5] Fishermen were the first responders who helped remove the pilots seat belt and rescued the injured. One officer died while three were injured.[6]
On February 16, 2012, an unmanned UAV IAI Searcher crashed into a hill near Himachal Nagar,Gajuwaka while returning from operations. Navy officials landed from choppers to retrieve the Black box.[7]