India reopens air force base near China border
The Indian Air Force on Saturday reopened an old air base in the mountainous Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir that was closed 43 years ago.
An AN-32 transporter plane carrying Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (Western Air Command) P K Barbora landed at the Dawaltbaigh Oldi air strip around 8.50 am after flying from Chandigarh.
The air base was set up in 1962 during the Indo-China war and closed in 1965.
Barbora had last week said that the operationalisation of the base would demonstrate to the world that India is capable of manning an airfield at such a high altitude.
The air base overlooking the strategic Karakoram pass is just 8 km south of the Chinese border. IAF plans to carry out regular AN-32 transport aircraft flights from here in the future.
"It is a part of our efforts to improve air maintenance of far-flung posts in the region bordering China and Pakistan," IAF sources said.
Besides, IAF's MI-17, MI-26 helicopters, Chetak and Druv helicopters can land at the helipad to ferry much-needed supplies to troops deployed in the region.
The air base was operational in 1962 when China launched an attack on India. An IAF AN-12 aircraft flying from Chandigarh on October 20, 1962, came under fire as Chinese troops launched an aggression in chip-chap valley in Aksaichin belt in Ladakh.
The Dawaltbaigh Oldi air strip is strategically located on ancient trade route connecting Ladakh in India to Yarkand in Xinjiang, China.
The IAF now plans to revive airfields in Chushul and Fukche along the Indo-China border, sources said.
Besides, India plans to construct a 608-km road network along the Line of Actual Control bordering China and Pakistan.
Before 1962, the place used to be a stopping point for traders traveling along the Silk Route. After the 1962 war, both India and China sealed their borders.
Now, another Air Force base on the China border
India is responding to China's disconcerting build-up of roads and railways to the India-Tibet border by stepping up its own ability to project military power. A top Indian Air Forcecommander has revealed plans for a brand new airbase atNyoma, in Ladakh, from which IAF fighters could fly missions to the nearby border, where Indian jawans were overwhelmed in 1962 without any fighter support.
This follows New Delhi's decision in 2008 to station frontlineSukhoi-30MKI fighters at four IAF bases in northeast India —Tezpur, Bagdogra, Chhabua and Hashimara — close by the Sino-Indian border. A slew of ongoing equipment purchases — e.g the C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft; the P8I Poseidon Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft; ultralight howitzers and light tanks for hilly terrain — also beef up India's abilities against China. A new corps, of some 50,000 troops, the Indian Army's first manpower increase in decades, will be stationed on the border. And several disused border airfields have been refurbished to allow operations by the IAF's AN-32 transporters.
But Nyoma will be much more than that. According to Air Marshall N A K Browne, the chief of the IAF's Western Air Command (WAC), "We shall be able to operate each and every aircraft of the IAF from Nyoma…. Our modern fighters, particularly the Sukhoi-30MKI, are designed to operate from such high altitude airfields. We have forwarded our plan to the MoD and… if we get the go-ahead today, (building Nyoma air base) would take 3-4 years."
The air marshall confirmed that an ongoing Rs 1,000-crore scheme to transform 30 IAF air bases into world-class fighter facilities — termed the Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure (MAFI) plan — would also be extended to Nyoma.
Such is the importance of Nyoma, that Defence Minister A K Antony was flown there for a personal inspection on June 22. That was after the 2,700 metre Nyoma airfield was prepared in just 90 days by an army engineer regiment, using a special compacting compound.
Defence experts are unanimous that fighter aircraft support can make the difference between victory and defeat in high altitude battlefields, but not everyone believes fighters should be placed so close to the border, vulnerable to enemy attack. Air Commodore Jasjit Singh who heads the Centre for Air Power Studies, the IAF's think tank, says, "While there is no denying the utility of aerial resupply and close air support, fighter aircraft should be based a safe distance away from the border. India has mid-air refuelling aircraft, which can extend the fighters' operating ranges."
While Nyoma was initially activated, in mid-2009, as a transport airfield to which troops and equipment could be quickly airlifted in a border crisis, the August floods in Leh, which submerged the airfield, led the IAF to conclude that an alternative to Leh was essential. Says Air Marshal Browne, "We need more options in that area if Leh is shut down because of landslides and floods… Besides, the (northern Ladakh) airfields of Leh and Thoise often get shut down because of (bad weather caused by) western disturbances. The weather pattern is far easier for us around Nyoma."
Before settling on Nyoma, the IAF has evaluated several other potential air bases in Ladakh. But Daulat Beg Oldi was too high (16,200 feet); Chushul was too close to the border; and Fukche could not have its runway extended because of water bodies at both ends.
Meanwhile, the IAF is watching China's developing capabilities in Tibet, just across the Line of Actual Control from Nyoma. According to Air Marshal Browne, "We are looking at the new threats…. and all of that is factored into our planning… whether in terms of new (Chinese) bases, sensors, missiles, radars and new weapons. We evaluate how these could affect us."
Even as Nyoma is built up as Ladakh's second major airbase after Leh, the runway at Leh is being resurfaced after the recent floods. The IAF says only part of the resurfacing can be completed this year, before winter stops work. The rest of the runway will be resurfaced next year.
Indian Air Force to base Sukhoi squadron near Indo-Pak border
This will be the second squadron of the Su-30MKI to be deployed in the Western Command area after deployment of the aircraft in Halwara in Punjab.
The aircraft will be deployed in Sirsa which is a key base along the Pakistan border, IAF officials said in New Delhi.
Till now, the Sukhois have been deployed in seven squadrons including the two in the eastern sector in Tezpur and Chabua, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, Halwara in Punjab and at its home base at Lohegaon in Pune.
The IAF is planning to induct a total of 272 Sukhois from Russia by 2017.
The twin-engined Russian-origin Sukhois are now produced under licence at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore. India is also planning to equip the aircraft with BrahMos super-sonic cruise missile.
Su-30s can fly for more than 10 hours without refuelling, the sources added.
The first Sukhoi 30 was inducted in the late 90s. The IAF started inducting the MKI version in early part of this decade. First batch of the MKI version aircraft will be upgraded under a Rs. 11,000 crore plan jointly by Russia and HAL.
