Charbatia Air Base

Charbatia Air Base is located approximately 10 km north of Cuttack, near Chowdwar Orissa in eastern India. It is an aerial reconnaissance post of the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). The Research and Analysis Wing, India’s primary foreign intelligence agency, operates intelligence collection aircraft through the intelligence agency’s aviation unit, the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). The aircraft are fitted with state-of-the-art electronic surveillance equipment and long range cameras capable of taking pictures of targets from very high altitudes. The base was built with the assistance of the Central Intelligence Agency in the early 1960s and was used for aerial surveillance and intelligence gathering of China’s strategic forces.

The air base is spread over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2). In 2011, the Chief Minister of Orissa, Naveen Patnaik announced that the air base will be converted into a full-fledged Indian Air Force station with six C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft.