Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 18

In a dramatic display of its airlift capabilities, the Air Force today ferried a record 463-tonne load from its airbase at Chandigarh to airfields and drop zones in the Ladakh region in a single wave in a few hours.

The aim of the exercise undertaken by the Western Air Command was to evaluate the IAF’s rapid airlift capability and to enhance crew training and competency in this role. In routine operations, the IAF averages about eight tonne a day.

The effort was accomplished through a fleet of 16 fixed-wing transport aircraft comprising the C-17 Globemaster and IL-76 Gajraj heavy-lift freighters as well as the AN-32 medium-lift tactical aircraft.

The entire wave was accomplished in less than six hours. All aircraft were assembled, loaded and launched from Chandigarh airbase in the morning. The maximum payload capacity of the C-17 and IL-76 is 70 tonne and 45 tonne, respectively, while the AN-32 can carry up to six tonne. While the C-17 is an American aircraft, the other two are Russian.

While the heavy aircraft landed at Leh and some among them were “turned around” in a short time to enable more aircraft to come in, drops were carried out in forward areas by the AN-32.

Airlifting of around 500 tonne within the designated timeframe in a single wave happens to be a record that enhances the commands’ capability towards rapid and heavy airlift.

The command is responsible for air maintenance of the entire northern region of the country and under normal operating circumstances airlifts close to 3,000-tonne load, which includes rations and fresh food, fuel and lubricants, ammunition and ordnance stores and equipment, per month.

“Rapid air mobility is a key component of modern warfare. This assumes greater significance in short and intense wars,” Air Marshal NJS Dhillon, Senior Air Staff Officer, Western Air Command, said.

“This is very true in India’s context, especially when related to air mobility to airfields in the Ladakh region. With a wide spectrum of military transport aircraft in its inventory the IAF today has a credible airlift capability that has provided succour on numerous occasions when the nation was struck with natural calamities,” he added.

In recent times, the IAF has been focusing on enhancing its logistic support capability in forward areas. Besides activating several advance landing grounds (unpaved strips) in the northern and north-eastern sectors for operations with aircraft such as the C-130 Hercules, it has also conducted exercises involving para-dropping troops in Ladakh.

The newly acquired C-17 aircraft have also been test-landed at some forward airstrips such as Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh.