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SOURCE: India Strategic
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is expediting the upgradation programmes of its various ALGs (Advance Landing Grounds) especially the ones located in the northern regions in Ladakh and India’s north-eastern region in and around Arunachal Pradesh taking into account massive Chinese infrastructural development opposite these areas in the Chinese occupied Tibet. This was revealed by Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Chief of the Air Staff, at a recent interaction with the Air Force veterans as part of the week-long celebrations to mark the IAF’s 83rd Anniversary..
It may be recalled IAF had embarked upon a massive upgradation/modernisation programme a decade ago under a `15,000 crore project named MAFI (Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure) to improve facilities at all its bases strung around the length and breadth of the country to make them compatible with modern aircraft operations. While a large number of airfields have undergone major upgradations under the MAFI programme that not only include fully operational and well surfaced runways, but also modern communications, radars, nav aids and aircraft landing systems; however, forward bases and ALGs in Ladakh and the northeast were somehow not given the utmost priority that was needed.
“This anomaly has been addressed now and the necessary urgency has been accorded to the development of these airfields and airstrips,” the Air Chief said.
In Ladakh, the already developed airfields at Leh and Thoise will be upgraded further to be able to undertake full-fledged regular operations by all types of aircraft including all the frontline fighters of the IAF, including new inductions in the pipeline. It may be noted that MiG-29s have been operating from Leh for more than a decade already. The writer fondly remembers a mission he flew in a two-seater from Leh to Indira Col in the Siachen Glacier and then shooting approaches at Thoise before recovering back at Leh. Though termed as routine operations, it also helped convey the right messages on either side of the LoC/AGPL and the LAC.
But, while Leh and Thoise are operational to a large extent, there are three airstrips that need attention in Ladakh namely, Kargil, Nyoma and the DBO. While all three have been tested with landings by An-32 aircraft and DBO has also had a historic visit by a C-130J and while Kargil is in a reasonably good shape, all three need major upgradations to make them fit for regular operations.
Two more ALGs (presently unused) at Chushul and Phukche also have the potential for development in the Ladakh region. Incidentally, both these ALGs were used during the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962 but fell into disuse later due to their close (Line of sight) proximity to the LAC.
As far as the north-east is concerned, apart from a number of main airfields, there are as many as eight ALGs that need to be upgraded under the extended MAFI programme. The ALGs located at Tuting, Walong, Daporijo, Mechuka, Pasighat, Tezu, Ziro and Vijaynagar were copiously used by the Dakota DC-3 cargo airplanes and helicopters during the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict and in later years by other types of aircraft (mainly An-32s). In 2008, these were taken over by the Defence Ministry for development.
However, but for the Vijaynagar airstrip in Changlang district along the China border, which was made operational and inaugurated by the former Governor Gen JJ Singh on November 18, 2011, the others are struggling at various stages of slow development. Even though taken over by the MoD, there were issues regarding illegal encroachments that were causing impediments in their development, explained the Air Chief. However, he was optimistic that after the recent interactions with the civil authorities, these obstacles will be removed swiftly to enable the upgradation work to be completed within the stipulated timeframes.
While the main air bases in the east, such as Bagdogra and Hasimara in West Bengal and; Guwahati, Tezpur, Jorhat, Mohanbari and Chabua in Assam are operational, these lack other facilities over and above what is to be provided under the provisions of MAFI – the most glaring being lack of proper covered and well-protected aircraft shelters. The Air Chief said the ‘East’ itself needed more than a hundred ‘blast pens’, of the size, to take on an aircraft like a Su-30 MKI. These aircraft shelters are expensive to construct and a phenomenal amount of funds are needed to construct the required numbers. In this context, the writer recalls when he was the Air-1 at the Shillong- based headquarters of Eastern Air Command (1988-1990), he had suggested construction of just two blast pens every year of the size of a MiG-25 (similar in size to the present Su-30 MKI) to the powers that be, hoping in 25 years EAC would have at least the minimum required number of pens to take on the Chinese challenge. Unfortunately, the suggestion was not taken seriously at the time resulting in the piling up of the requirement at a later date.
While the Air Chief was confident of getting the financial support from the Government, he was skeptical of the capacity, as also standard of work provided by the local contractors, to take on the task in these areas. ACM Raha said he had suggested to the Government that the entire task be entrusted to a big and reputed company which could execute the work at all sites simultaneously within a stipulated timeframe, as also provide quality work.
On the air defence front, the CAS said they were quite happy with the performance of the recently inducted indigenous Akash SAM. And, while a few suggestions have been given to the DRDO to improve the system further, IAF is well poised to induct Akash SAM systems in much larger numbers. Efforts are also on to develop the LR-SAM with a foreign partner and, acquire VSHORAD systems jointly with the Army, from a foreign vendor. The Air Chief also spoke about acquiring adequate radar surveillance capabilities in all their formats of high and medium power radars (HPR/MPRS), Aerostats, LLTRs (Low Level Transportable Radars), etc.
In the final analysis though, while the IAF is working feverishly to acquire the necessary air defence capabilities, both in terms of radars and SAM systems; it is imperative, it provides the necessary protection to the aircraft on ground to successfully face a possible enemy aerial onslaught – without repeating a Pathankot or a Kalaikunda – in all sectors of its operations.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is expediting the upgradation programmes of its various ALGs (Advance Landing Grounds) especially the ones located in the northern regions in Ladakh and India’s north-eastern region in and around Arunachal Pradesh taking into account massive Chinese infrastructural development opposite these areas in the Chinese occupied Tibet. This was revealed by Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Chief of the Air Staff, at a recent interaction with the Air Force veterans as part of the week-long celebrations to mark the IAF’s 83rd Anniversary..
It may be recalled IAF had embarked upon a massive upgradation/modernisation programme a decade ago under a `15,000 crore project named MAFI (Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure) to improve facilities at all its bases strung around the length and breadth of the country to make them compatible with modern aircraft operations. While a large number of airfields have undergone major upgradations under the MAFI programme that not only include fully operational and well surfaced runways, but also modern communications, radars, nav aids and aircraft landing systems; however, forward bases and ALGs in Ladakh and the northeast were somehow not given the utmost priority that was needed.
“This anomaly has been addressed now and the necessary urgency has been accorded to the development of these airfields and airstrips,” the Air Chief said.
In Ladakh, the already developed airfields at Leh and Thoise will be upgraded further to be able to undertake full-fledged regular operations by all types of aircraft including all the frontline fighters of the IAF, including new inductions in the pipeline. It may be noted that MiG-29s have been operating from Leh for more than a decade already. The writer fondly remembers a mission he flew in a two-seater from Leh to Indira Col in the Siachen Glacier and then shooting approaches at Thoise before recovering back at Leh. Though termed as routine operations, it also helped convey the right messages on either side of the LoC/AGPL and the LAC.
But, while Leh and Thoise are operational to a large extent, there are three airstrips that need attention in Ladakh namely, Kargil, Nyoma and the DBO. While all three have been tested with landings by An-32 aircraft and DBO has also had a historic visit by a C-130J and while Kargil is in a reasonably good shape, all three need major upgradations to make them fit for regular operations.
Two more ALGs (presently unused) at Chushul and Phukche also have the potential for development in the Ladakh region. Incidentally, both these ALGs were used during the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962 but fell into disuse later due to their close (Line of sight) proximity to the LAC.
As far as the north-east is concerned, apart from a number of main airfields, there are as many as eight ALGs that need to be upgraded under the extended MAFI programme. The ALGs located at Tuting, Walong, Daporijo, Mechuka, Pasighat, Tezu, Ziro and Vijaynagar were copiously used by the Dakota DC-3 cargo airplanes and helicopters during the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict and in later years by other types of aircraft (mainly An-32s). In 2008, these were taken over by the Defence Ministry for development.
However, but for the Vijaynagar airstrip in Changlang district along the China border, which was made operational and inaugurated by the former Governor Gen JJ Singh on November 18, 2011, the others are struggling at various stages of slow development. Even though taken over by the MoD, there were issues regarding illegal encroachments that were causing impediments in their development, explained the Air Chief. However, he was optimistic that after the recent interactions with the civil authorities, these obstacles will be removed swiftly to enable the upgradation work to be completed within the stipulated timeframes.
While the main air bases in the east, such as Bagdogra and Hasimara in West Bengal and; Guwahati, Tezpur, Jorhat, Mohanbari and Chabua in Assam are operational, these lack other facilities over and above what is to be provided under the provisions of MAFI – the most glaring being lack of proper covered and well-protected aircraft shelters. The Air Chief said the ‘East’ itself needed more than a hundred ‘blast pens’, of the size, to take on an aircraft like a Su-30 MKI. These aircraft shelters are expensive to construct and a phenomenal amount of funds are needed to construct the required numbers. In this context, the writer recalls when he was the Air-1 at the Shillong- based headquarters of Eastern Air Command (1988-1990), he had suggested construction of just two blast pens every year of the size of a MiG-25 (similar in size to the present Su-30 MKI) to the powers that be, hoping in 25 years EAC would have at least the minimum required number of pens to take on the Chinese challenge. Unfortunately, the suggestion was not taken seriously at the time resulting in the piling up of the requirement at a later date.
While the Air Chief was confident of getting the financial support from the Government, he was skeptical of the capacity, as also standard of work provided by the local contractors, to take on the task in these areas. ACM Raha said he had suggested to the Government that the entire task be entrusted to a big and reputed company which could execute the work at all sites simultaneously within a stipulated timeframe, as also provide quality work.
On the air defence front, the CAS said they were quite happy with the performance of the recently inducted indigenous Akash SAM. And, while a few suggestions have been given to the DRDO to improve the system further, IAF is well poised to induct Akash SAM systems in much larger numbers. Efforts are also on to develop the LR-SAM with a foreign partner and, acquire VSHORAD systems jointly with the Army, from a foreign vendor. The Air Chief also spoke about acquiring adequate radar surveillance capabilities in all their formats of high and medium power radars (HPR/MPRS), Aerostats, LLTRs (Low Level Transportable Radars), etc.
In the final analysis though, while the IAF is working feverishly to acquire the necessary air defence capabilities, both in terms of radars and SAM systems; it is imperative, it provides the necessary protection to the aircraft on ground to successfully face a possible enemy aerial onslaught – without repeating a Pathankot or a Kalaikunda – in all sectors of its operations.
