How To Join Indian Army Aviation Corps

The Indian Army Aviation Corps, formed in November 1986, was created with the aim of providing the Indian Army with an air component to provide combat and combat support in coordinated operations as an integrated member of the Combined Arms Team. The Army Aviation Corps emerged from the erstwhile Air OP units of the Indian Army that were tasked primarily to support field artillery. With the creation of the Army Aviation Corps and the transfer of the Indian Air Force’s light helicopters, the Army Aviation Corps was utilised principally for reconnaissance and observation missions. Contemporarily, however, with the induction of the Advanced Light Helicopter, the Indian Army Aviation’s role in the Combined Arms Team has expanded significantly.

The Indian Army Aviation is fairly unique in terms of the composition and distribution of its equipment. The Indian military is the only military where the helicopters are distributed almost proportionally between the army and air force. In contrast, the People’s Liberation Army and Pakistani Army maintain control over a sizeable majority of the helicopters in their respective militaries.

Army Aviation Corps Training

Training is imparted to all candidates at the Combat Army Aviation Training School (CATS) at Nashik. The Army Aviation training was previously conducted in School of Artillery, Deolali. But now it is carried out in an independent Combat Air Training School also at Deolali.

The Cheetah helicopter simulator has been set up at Combat Army Aviation Training School (CATS). It is expected to reduce substantial cost in training and also to reduce pilot risk during training. The simulator is designed to expose the trainee to different weather conditions like snow,rain,storm and different terrains in addition to night flying training in handling emergencies, tactical handling of the flying machine, its different maneuvers and more. The project to install a simulator was proposed in December 2000 and approved in April 2002, with CATS Nashik chosen as the centre for installation. Macmet Technologies Ltd, which won the bid over Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), completed the project by 2005 at a cost of Rs 16.26 crore. After stringent checks, the facility was accepted by the army in December 2005.

Army Aviation Corps Aircraft

Army Aviation Corps Decorations

How To Apply For Army Aviation Corps

• Cadets undergoing training can apply for army aviation during training and they will get army aviation depends on their merit and performance, also on vacancies in army aviation at that point of time.
• Serving officers can apply for Indian army aviation as and when there are vacancies.