NSG gets its own fleet of aircraft

The National Security Guards (NSG) has finally received the go-ahead for its own fleet of dedicated aircraft.

The decision comes after the Mumbai terror attacks where commandos of the elite force battled terrorists at three major landmarks and killed eight of them.

The NSG will also change its tactics after having tackled terrorists in Mumbai, which follows a full debrief after the successful operation.

In the recent Mumbai terror attack, the deployment of the NSG was delayed by almost 10 hours, due to a lack of aircraft to carry them from their home base near New Delhi Palam to Mumbai. The delay was further compounded due to a lack of surface transportation from Mumbai airport, located in the northern end of the city, while the terror attacks were centered at the southern end. The elite counter-terrorism commandos were finally ferried in municipal transport buses of the BEST company.

The NSG Director General is also reported to have made his displeasure evident to the Home Ministry about the use of BEST buses for transportation.

Two NSG commandos Major Sandeep Unnikrishanan and Havaldar Gajendra Singh were martyred during the operations in Mumbai.