In 1943, it was designated as a B-29 Superfortress Base for the planned deployment of the United States Army Air Forces XX Bomber Command to India.

Flying North American O-47s, P-51 Mustangs, C-47 Skytrains and L-5 Sentinel aircraft, the commando unit dropped supplies to Allied troops who were fighting the Japanese in the Chindwin Valley in Burma; moved Chinese troops from Burma to China; transported men, food, ammunition, and construction equipment to Burma; dropped Gurka paratroops during the assault on Rangoon; provided fighter support for Allied forces crossing the Irrawaddy River in February 1945; struck enemy airfields and transportation facilities; escorted bombers to targets in the vicinity of Rangoon; bombed targets in Thailand; and flew reconnaissance missions.

After May 1945 the fighter squadrons were in training; in June the group's C-47s were sent to Ledo to move road-building equipment; during June— July most of its L-5s were turned over to Fourteenth Air Force in China.

Aircraft based here can assist with air defence over the strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Bay of Bengal.

Andaman and Nicobar Command in the A&N Islands will be in charge of the squadrons of Sukhoi Su-30MKIs and other advanced aircraft based at Kalaikunda for this purpose.

We play host to several foreign air forces interested in joint exercises with the IAF," the official added.

Apart from the MiG-27 ground-attack aircraft and MiG-21 Fn fighters of the OCU, squadrons of Su-30 MKIs and other advanced varieties from the IAF's fleet call on Kalaikunda on a regular basis.

According to IAF sources, plans have moved ahead and the civilian terminal might soon start serving not only West Bengal, but also Jharkhand and Odisha.

We have no problems if civilian aircraft use our runway and then move to a separate terminal to the south of the existing military facility.

This corridor will pass under NH6 (Mumbai Road) and the railway tracks in the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section of South Eastern Railway[2] The Civilian Terminal will be used by Alliance Air for daily flights for Vishakapatnam and Bhubaneshwar from 1 April 2019 under scheme of UDAN III released by the government.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency