The Aviation Research Centre (ARC) is a part of the Research and Analysis Wing

Research and Analysis Wing

The Research and Analysis Wing is India's external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968 after the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and the India-Pakistani war of 1965 convinced the then government of India that a specialized, independent...

 (R&AW) of the Cabinet Secretariat, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The first head of the ARC was R. N. Kao

R. N. Kao

Rameshwar Nath Kao was a spymaster and the first chief of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing from its founding in 1969 to 1977....

, the legendary founding chief of R&AW. Over the years the ARC has grown into a large operation and flies a large and varied fleet that till recently included the high-flying Mach 3 capable MIG-25, which long flew with impunity over Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 and China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

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From its humble origin consisting of Helio Twin Courier

Helio Twin Courier

-References:*Taylor, John W. R. . Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1965-66. London:Sampson Low, Marston, 1965.* Probert Encyclopaedia* All Metal Plane...

 Courier loaned from the USAF, ARC today boasts of having fixed-wing transport aircraft like Russian IL-76s and AN-32

Antonov An-32

The Antonov An-32 is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft.-Design and development:The An-32 is basically a re-engined An-26. The launch customer was the Indian Air Force, which ordered this aircraft partly due to good relations between then USSR leader Leonid Brezhnev and then...

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