How the Indian Air force is Flexing its Muscle Near the Chinese Border
The Indian Air Force created a
world record by performing the highest landing of a C-130J at the Daulat
Beg Oldi airstrip in Ladakh at the height of 16614 feet (5065 meters)
India and China fought a bitter border engagement in 1962, with Chinese
troops penetrating deep into what was then North East Frontier Agency
(NEFA) and inflicting heavy casualties on Indian troops. Arunachal
Pradesh which shares a 1,030 km unfenced border with China and this
borderland is defined by the McMahon Line, a notional boundary that is
now known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
What is more surprising is that, the Chinese have never recognised the
McMahon Line, claiming 90,000 sq km or almost all of Arunachal Pradesh.
This time the Indian Air force has taken the responsibility to step the
tempo and balance the theatre of international relations along the
border.
The Indian Air Force is on the verge to fully operationalize seven
Advanced Landing Grounds(ALGs) in Arunachal Pradesh, a major move which
promises to boost the country’s operational reach and capability.
In recent years, the IAF opened three Advanced Landing grounds (ALG) in
Jammu & Kashmir’s Ladakh region at Daulat Beg Oldi, Fuk Che and
Nyoma, close to the Line of Actual Control with China.
The Rs 720-crore project to develop ALGs got an impetus in 2013, when
the State government and the forces witnessed massive construction and
development on the Chinese side along the 1,080-km border. “All seven
ALGs, except Tawang will be developed by December this year,” Air
Marshal SB Deo, commanding-in-chief of Western Air Command briefed
newsmen. Of the seven ALGs, the one in Walong was inaugurated last month
and the rest include ALGs in Mechuka , Vijoynagar, Tuting, Passighat,
Ziro and Aalo.
On August 20, 2013, a C-130J Super Hercules of the IAF touched down at
Daulat Beg Oldie, the world’s highest airfield at a height of 16,614
feet within 10 km of India’s de-facto border with China. Since then,
there have been regular C-130J flights to the airfield. An ALG is being
developed at Tawang, a border town in Arunachal Pradesh at the core of
the Sino-Indian territorial dispute, for landing of transport aircraft
and helicopters.
The ALG in Tawang is yet to reach completion, but once it does it will
allow for the landing of C-130J Super Hercules. These ALGs are equipped
with night landing capabilities which would in turn help forces
especially near the borders.
Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha had last month said at a conference that the
upgradation of ALGs would enhance the economic development of the
Northeastern region.
Activating airbases and landing sites in Arunachal Pradesh is seen as a clear message to China that it is actively fortified.
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