Maharashtra

Maharashtra is not just a place for warbirds, but also for Tanks and Artillery guns. The Tank Museum is located in Ahmed Nagar and the Artillery Museum is in Deolali. Pic Courtesy : Nagarbazar.com

Maharashtra had a plethora of military installations prior to Independence. A large part of the state was part of the Hyderabad Nawab-dom and the British maintained many military bases and airfields in the area, most of them training establishments. Thus you have the Artillery Center at Deolali (near Nasik), the Armoured Corps center at Ahmednagar, the National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla,   airfields at Ozhar, Lohegaon, Santacruz, Sambre (Belgaum), Nagpur etc.

Today Maharastra houses a major Air Force base at Lohegaon, and a Naval airbase at Mumbai. This coupled with the fact there are a lot of training establishments and the MiG factory at HAL, makes the state rich in warbird heritage.

There are a fair number of good Military museums in the state. The Armoured Corps museum in Ahmadnagar has more than 40 Tanks on display. The Regiment of Artillery Museum at Deolali too as artillery guns and a couple of aircraft on display. HAL Ozhar opened a small museum of thier own (with one aircraft). Once the Ex-INS Vikrant is opened as a floating museum (with atleast six aircraft), Maharashtra is the place for the “Military tourist”.