Aviation Research Centre The Aviation Research Centre ( ARC ) is a part of the Research and Analysis Wing ( R & AW ) of the Cabinet Secretariat , India . The first head of the ARC was R . N . Kao , the legendary founding chief of R & AW . Over the years the ARC has grown into a large operation and flies a large and varied fleet that till recently included the high - flying Mach 3 capable MIG - 25 . Inventory . From its humble origin consisting of Helio Twin Courier Courier loaned from the USAF , ARC today boasts of having fixed - wing transport aircraft like Russian IL - 76 s and AN - 32 s . It also has General Dynamics Gulfstream III and upgraded Gulfstream IV jets . The helicopter inventory comprises Russian Mi - 8 s and a mix of locally built Cheetahs ( modified French Alouette II s ) and Chetaks ( Alouette III s ) . The weapon of choice for ARC was the MIG - 25 ( also christened as " Foxbat " by NATO ) which was used for high altitude reconnaissance ( the plane was decommissioned in 2006 and is no longer in service ) . Rumors abound that the second strike capability of India vests on the ARC . ARC is also believed to be the first wing of Indian intelligence agencies to induct the indigenously built ' Pilotless Target Aircraft ' ( PTA ) Lakshya . Lakshya is equipped with advanced support system to help it perform tactful aerial exploration in the battlefield , including target acquisition . The Lakshya is fitted with a digitally controlled engine that can be operated from the ground using a remote . Lakshya had been designed by Aeronautical Development Establishment , Bangalore . Lakshya is a surface / ship launched high subsonic reusable aerial target system , remotely piloted from ground . It provides training to the gun and missile crew and to air defence pilots for weapon engagement . Bases . Although highly secretive in its operation it is believed that there are five R & AW Aviation Research Centre operating bases : at Charbatia Air Base in Cuttack being the largest ; at Sarsawa Air Base near Saharanpur on the Uttar Pradesh - Haryana border ; Dum Duma Air Base near Tinsukia in Assam ; at the Palam Air Base in Delhi ; and at the Farkhor Air Base , the only Indian military base situated in a foreign country , at Farkhor / Ayni in Tajikistan . Function . Aerial surveillance , SIGINT operations , photo reconnaissance flights ( PHOTINT ) , monitoring of borders , imagery intelligence ( IMINT ) are the main functions of 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 . ARC also takes the responsibility along with the IAF to transport Special Frontier Force ( SFF ) commandos from their trans - location at Sarsawa , 250 km north of New Delhi , though the SFF ' s own base is in Chakrata in Uttarakhand ( UK ) state . Kargil War . In 1999 during the Kargil War , after the Pakistani intrusion was detected , ARC was tasked to check if the Pakistanis had indeed crossed the Line of Control to the Indian side and violated the border agreement . A number of missions were flown by the ARC on request from the Indian Army and the PMO . Senior officials of the Indian armed forces including the Chief of Air Staff and Chief of Army staff highly commended the work done by ARC , quoting " The electronic and optical information provided by the ARC before and during the actual operations was of immense value to the conduct of air strikes . " Also the K . Subrahmanyam committee report into the Kargil war observed that " No intelligence failures had been attributed on account of functioning of RAW and ARC . However , certain equipment inadequacies were highlighted such as satellite imagery and UAVs " . Controversies . ARC is blamed by many for its failure to monitor and detect the intrusion by Pakistan in Kargil . There has been even rumors about possible split of ARC from R & AW . Moreover , turf battles between the civilian and military intelligence agencies , which had intensified following feeble attempts to revamp the country ' s information gathering capabilities five years ago , led to difficulties in close cooperation or information sharing between R & AW and the Intelligence Bureau . There have also been reports of turf wars with the newly set up National Technical Research Organisation over airborne intelligence and satellite imagery .