Chandigarh: Base Repair Depot, Chandigarh has the distinction of being the first Indigenisation & substitution cell of Indian Air Force (IAF) and has successfully indigenised approximately 15000 lines of spares of aircraft well as aero engines. This has contributed significantly towards achieving goals of 'Make in India' and 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'. This was stated by Air Commodore Rajeev Shrivastava, Air-Officer-Commanding, 3BRD Chandigarh while interacting with the media here today. Indigenisation of many complex spares has been completed and many more are in advanced stages Indigenisation drive of the Depot has resulted in savings of hundreds of crores worth of foreign exchange and at the same time has drastically reduced ex-abroad dependency for requirement of aviation spares, he added.
He further said that in the face of many technological and supply chain challenges due to difficult Geo-political scenario. Depot has always played a pivotal role in sustaining operations of the Russian Helicopter and AN-32 transport fleet of the Indian Air Force Depot has made huge strides towards self-reliance and is continually striving with zeal & vigour to reduce dependency on foreign sources through innovation, indigenisation and outsourcing with Indian Aviation industry partners.
Base Repair Depot (BRD), Chandigarh has the unique distinction of being the only Repair Depot of Indian Air Force (IAF) undertaking overhaul of aircraft and aero engines as well as acting as an Equipment Depot The Depot has the proud legacy of overhauling 1038 aircrafts since its inception in 1962 which include AN-12. IL-14, Mi-4, Mi-8, Mi- 17, Mi-17 IV, Mi-17V5 and 4025 aero engines in the last 61 years. This resulted in invaluable saving of foreign exchequer and continual Op support to Helicopter and transport fleet of the IAF. For its meritorious service to the nation, Depot was awarded Presidents colour in 2013. The Depot is also centre of excellence for Industrial Engineering and reclamation technologies.
Earlier Group Captain Anand J Karve, Chief of Planning, 3BRD elaborated that Base Repair Depot, Chandigarh was established on 01 Feb 1962. The foundation stone of this Depot was laid by Late Mr. VK Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India on 01 Feb 1962 The first Station Commander was Gp Capt MJ Kriplani MBE. Base Repair Depot, Chandigarh is also accredited with Occupational Health & Safety Management System ISO 45001:2018, Quality Management System ISO 9001:2015. Environment Management System ISO 14001:2015 as well as Aerospace Standards AS 9110C. Depot has the honour of being the first BRD to be awarded with CEMILAC design house accreditation.
During the last six decades, the Depot has played central role in supporting the fleet in both international and national endeavours. This include first Antarctica mission, various UN missions in African countries, Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) operation in Srilanka, Humanitarian Aid Disaster Relief (HADR) and other Operational missions These missions have gone a long way to enhance the image of India in the world as an emerging power, while also achieving the military objective and saving precious civilian lives during natural calamities.
Depot commenced repair and overhaul of Mi-17 helicopters in 1992. After induction of Mi-171V and avionics heavy Mi-17 V5 helicopters in the IAF, maintenance of the entire MLH fleet was entrusted to the Depot without Transfer of Technology from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Russia. Depot strived hard with an innovative approach and developed technology by involving various Govt, DRDO and Private agencies so as to become self-reliant towards repair and overhaul of Mi- 171V & Mi-17V5 helicopter and its aggregates Towards this, Depot has successfully started overhauling Mi-171V in 2013 and Mi-17 V5 in 2020.
The biggest challenge of the depot has been sustenance of huge Medium Lift Helicopter (MLH) fleet, with limited or NIL support from OEM in terms of supply of critical spares. Depot has successfully mitigated the challenges through life revision studies, outsourcing, innovative in house technology, reclamation & indigenisation Depots efforts on self- reliance has contributed immensely in sustaining Mi-series & AN-32 fleet serviceability especially during Russia - Ukraine conflict.
The media was taken to the different workshops of 3BRD for physical inspection, where a detailed information on repair, assembling and testing of various aircrafts was given.