INS Hansa becomes first defence airfield with RNP approach

INS Hansa in Goa has become the very first Joint-User International Aerodrome in the South-Asia Pacific region to be augmented with the Required Navigation Performance (RNP) approach.

The RNP approach will reduce dependency for navigation on ground-based equipment such as Very-High Frequency Omni Directional Radio (VOR) and Instrument Landing System (ILS).

This RNP approach will provide near Category-I ILS accuracies, thereby aiding unhindered flying operations even when the aforementioned equipment are unserviceable or under maintenance.

The capability was achieved through the dedicated and concerted efforts of the Indian Navy and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), according to a press statement.

A team of AAl officials visited the air station between April 7 and 8, 2022, towards the formulation of Letters of Agreement (LOA) between INS Hansa and Mopa International Airport.

During the discussions, AAl offered to revise all the Instrument Approach Procedures (IAPs) of INS Hansa and also design Required Navigation Performance (RNP) approaches for both runways.

The station deputed one Instrument Procedure Design Course (IPDC)-qualified officer to AAl, and all the lAPs were revised with the help of aeronautical charts prepared by the Survey Department of the AAI. The AAl also designed the Indian satellite-based RNP approach for runway 26 at INS Hansa (Dabolim Airport), for which satisfactory flight trials were conducted using the station’s air assets.