No. 159 Helicopter Unit, IAF

No. 159 Helicopter Unit
Active	11 February 2013-Present
Country	Republic of India
Branch	Indian Air Force
Garrison/HQ	Nagpur AFS
Nickname(s)	Rudraksh
Mascot(s)	Third eye of Lord Shiva
Commanders
Current commander	Gp Capt S Venkataraman
Aircraft flown
Attack	Mil Mi-17V5

Military unit

No. 159 Helicopter Unit is a Helicopter Unit and is equipped with Mil Mi-17V5 and based at Nagpur AFS.^[1]

History

The unit 159HU christened “Rudraksh” is an Indian Air Force Helicopter unit equipped with the latest state of the art Medium Lift Multirole Assault Russian Helicopter Mi17v5.

This unit was raised in AFS Purnea in the year 2013 but later shifted to AFS Nagpur.

The unit has been instrumental in handling the Central Region of the Republic of India and assists Central and State Govt with various roles whenever needed.

The unit has been at the forefront of air maintenance in the Uttar Bharat Hills and has countless Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations in its history.

The name Rudraksh stands for Rudr which is the holy name of the Hindu Deity Lord Shiva and Aksh means his Third Eye so Rudraksh means the third eye of the great Lord Shiva.

Assignments

Aircraft

Mil Mi-17V5

References

^ "Squadrons and Helicopter Units". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 5 December 2015.

Indian Air Force

Leadership

Minister of Defence
Chief of the Air Staff
Vice Chief of the Air Staff
Deputy Chief of the Air Staff
AOCs-in-C (Commander-in-Chief)
Serving air marshals

Components
& commands

Air Force commands

Operational	Central Air Command Eastern Air Command Southern Air Command South Western Air Command Western Air Command
Functional	Training Command Maintenance Command
Joint	Andaman and Nicobar Command Strategic Forces Command Defence Cyber Agency Defence Space Agency Armed Forces Special Operations Division

Air bases

Western Air Command	Adampur Ambala Amritsar Awantipora Bathinda Chandigarh Faridabad Gurugram Halwara Hindan Leh Palam Pathankot Sarsawa Siachen Glacier Sirsa Srinagar Udhampur
Eastern Air Command	Agartala Bagdogra Barapani AFS Barrackpore Chabua Dum Dum Hasimara Jorhat Kalaikunda Kumbhigram Mohanbari Mountain Shadow Tawang Tezpur Panagarh
Central Air Command	Agra Bihta Darbhanga Bakshi Ka Talab Bamrauli Bareilly Chakeri Gorakhpur Maharajpur
Southern Air Command	Car Nicobar Coimbatore Madurai Port Blair Tambaram Thanjavur
South Western Air Command	Bhuj Jaisalmer Jamnagar Jodhpur Lohegaon Nal-Bikaner Naliya Phalodi Uttarlai Makarpura
Training Command	Begumpet Bidar Dundigal Hakimpet Yelahanka Belgaum
Maintenance Command	Nagpur Ojhar
Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs)	Along Chinyalisaur Chushul Daulat Beg Oldi Fukche Hayuliang Mechuka Nyoma Pasighat Airport Tawang Thoise Tuting Vijaynagar Walong Ziro

Squadrons

Combat

No. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
14
15
16
17
18
20
23
24
27
29
30
31
45
47
101
102
106
220
221
222
223
224

Transport

No. 11
12
19
25
33
41
43
44
48
49
59
77
78
81
87

Helicopters

Squadrons	No. 104 125
Units	No. 105 107 109 110 111 112 114 115 116 117 118 119 127 128 129 130 143 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159
Flights	No. 121 122 126 131 132

Acrobatic display

Communication

AHQCS

EW/AWS

RPA

No. 3001
3002
3003
3004
3005

Number plated

No. 10
21
22
26
28
32
35
37
51
108

Aircraft

Military
academies

Education & training	Sainik School Armed Forces Medical College Ajmer Military School Bangalore Military School Belgaum Military School Chail Military School Dholpur Military School Rashtriya Indian Military College
Schools & colleges	Air Force Academy Air Force Administrative College Air Force School, Coimbatore Air Force School, Jodhpur Flying Instructors School Indian Air Force Test Pilot School Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment Air Defence College College of Air Warfare
Tri-service institutions	Defence Services Staff College National Defence Academy National Defence College College of Defence Management Military Institute of Technology