Things You Should Know About India's Secret Military And Air Bases

There are secret bases located in different locations around the world. Most of them are of the US Army and Air Force. The most famous one is “Area 51,” which except for authorized personnel, no one is allowed to enter. After World War, there are many secret bases being discovered and some already exist in the public domain. Among some of the secret military bases, some are in India.

Not many people know the secret Indian bases’ locations as they are typically highly restricted to civilians. These places hide secrets about the national security of the country. And we all know that secrets are meant to be kept hidden. Here are the top 5 secret military and air bases of India.

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Andaman & Nicobar consists of over 500 islands. However, among them, visitors can only visit 34 islands. It is believed that several secret Indian bases are located here. Moreover, it is also considered to be the Indian highly secret Tri-Service Command’s command post.

Since the 1980s, India has been developing defense facilities on the islands. The islands play a critical position in the strategic role of the country in the Malacca Strait and the Bay of Bengal.

2. Bareilly Air Force Base

India owned Mig-25 Foxbat, which was among the fastest military aircraft of its time. No one has ever known about the aircrafts’ existence, not until they were retired.

The airbase was secured to the point that we do not see which fighter jet leaves it. Trishul Air Base is what we are talking about. The airbase is at Izzatnagar which is 6km to the north of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. It is known to be one of the Indian Air Force’s secret airbases. Its underground aircraft hangar is one of the largest ones in Asia. Only high-ranking government officials on government duty can enter the air force base. At the moment, the Bareilly Air Force Base Helicopter and Su-30Mki unit.

3. Wheeler Island, Odisha

For security purposes, this island is kept as a secret. Wheeler Island is on the coast of Odisha, which is around 150km away from Bhubaneswar. On September 2015, in an act to honor Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam-the late India president, the island was renamed.

On the island, the Indian government set up a missile testing facility which becomes public interest whenever India fired any missile. Most of the long-range missiles are fired from here.

The location of Wheeler island is pretty central. The island is around 10km off the Indian eastern coast on the Bay of Bengal. The island is only accessible via ship since there are neither any airports nor bridges connecting the mainland with the island. There is actually a small helipad; however, all supplies, missile air-frames, heavy equipment, and construction materials are brought to the island by ships.

4. Charbatia Air Base, Cuttack

If you are an Indian secret service follower, you must know the ARC or Aviation Research Centre, which is foreign intelligence agency-R&AW’s aerial reconnaissance and support base. Not a lot of people know where ARC operate its secret aircraft. It is actually the Charbatia Air Base which is around 10km to the north of Cuttack, Odisha.

In the mid-20^th century, when the CIA was secretly helping India in developing its defense against China, the US agency contributed a lot to the structuring of the ARC operational. The base was later used by both CIA and India to get information about China’s strategic development.

5. Farkhor Air Base, Tajikistan

During the 90s, when the battlefield of the Taliban-Afghanistan became a bloodbath, India offered help to its old friend by assisting the Afghan Northern Alliance which was the Afghan Army’s Guerrilla Force.

Getting into Afghanistan posed as a big challenge. Therefore R&AW negotiated with Tajikistan to supply Afghan Northern Alliance with high-altitude military supplies using the Farkhor airbase.

Since the condition of the Farkhor airbase wasn’t good, the Indian government spent $10 million on restoring the airbase. However, a private contractor which filled the tender became defaulted. Border Road Organization needed to step in to finish the work. At the moment, the Farkhor airbase is where the Indian Army operates the Su-30Mki and Mig-29 UPG aircraft, giving the country a strategic advantage against Pakistan.