Quietly,India practises airdrop on China border

Part Of Measure To Counter Neighbours Military Build-up

Rajat Pandit TNN

New Delhi: India is quietly practising airdrops of paratroopers in high-altitude areas near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to bolster operational readiness.The combat drills are part of the overall plan to strategically counter Chinas massive buildup of military infrastructure along the unresolved border.
A milestone in this endeavour was achieved just ahead of Chinese defence minister Gen Liang Guanglies visit to India last week.This involved the first-ever static line paradrop from a heavy-lift Ilyushin-76 aircraft at Nyoma on August 29,sources said.

The advanced landing ground (ALG) at Nyoma in eastern Ladakh,located 23km from the LAC at an altitude of over 13,300 feet,was re-activated when a medium-lift Antonov-32 transport aircraft landed there in September 2009.

Since then,there have been other AN-32 landings at the airstrip as well as joint IAF-army airdrops in the area.But August 29 was the first time when the static line paradrop (when parachutes,linked to the plane with cords,open on exit in classic airborne infantry mode) was successfully conducted by an IL-76, said a source.

The airdrop,with a mix of 20 army and IAF paratroopers jumping from a record altitude of over 15,000 feet,was conducted by the Mighty Jets IL-76 squadron after months of meticulous planning at the Chandigarh airbase and the Delhi-based Western Air Command.

Though Nyomas location is of immense strategic significance,the hazards of treacherous terrain and weather had to be kept in mind.An IL-76 can carry over 120 combat-ready paratroopers,which is three times more than an AN-32, the source said.

IAF has already chalked out a detailed Rs 3,500-crore project to upgrade the Nyoma ALG into a full-fledged airbase with a 12,000-feet runway capable of handling all kinds of aircraft,including fighters,to ensure both defensive and offensive options in the sector.

Though it is yet to get the finance ministrys nod,the project is considered critical since China has built five operational airbases in Tibet Gongar,Pangta,Linchi,Hoping and Gar which are clearly geared towards India.

Earlier,China used to deploy fighters such as the J-10,Sukhoi-27 UBK and Sukhoi-30 MKKI at the airbases only during summers.Now,they have taken to deploying the J-10 fighters at bases like Gongar round-the-year.Moreover,PLA has also been conducting regular livefire ground and air exercises in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

India is progressively upgrading old ALGs like Nyoma,Daulat Beg Oldi and Fukche in Ladakh as well as Pasighat,Mechuka,Walong,Tuting,Ziro and Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh,after a gap of 3-4 decades.Such ALGs,coupled with road links,will create more access points for the Indian armed forces to border areas with both China and Pakistan.

Gen planned to gift cash to military band

New Delhi:Visiting Chinese defence minister General Liang Guanglies largesse probably would not have been restricted to the two IAF pilots,who flew him and his delegation from Mumbai to Delhi,if alert Indian officials had not stepped in.

After giving the two pilots Rs 1 lakh in cash a day earlier,the Chinese general apparently planned to thank even the military band that played Indian and Chinese tunes at an official banquet hosted by his Indian counterpart A K Antony at the IAF Akash officers mess on September 4 here with a similar token of appreciation.

But this time,forewarned by the experience of the pilots being gifted currency notes in sealed envelopes,Indian officials intervened to dissuade the Chinese side from doing so on the ground that it was not an accepted practice in India.TNN