IAF to have 7 operational Advanced Landing Grounds in Arunachal Pradesh in a month

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force is readying to fully operationalise seven Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) in Arunachal Pradesh after almost two years of repair and reconstruction, a move that promises to provide a major boost to the country’s operational capability.

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. The area remains a bone of contention between the Indian and Chinese forces where the line of actual control acts as the de facto border.

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“All seven ALGs, except Tawang will be developed by December this year,” Air Marshal SB Deo, commanding-in-chief of Western Air Command, told ET. Of the seven ALGs, the one in Walong was inaugurated last month. The rest include ALGs in Mechuka , Vijoynagar, Tuting, Passighat, Ziro and Aalo.

The ALG in Tawang is yet to reach completion, but once it does it will allow for the landing of C-130J Super Hercules, the latest addition to the air force’s transport aircraft.

These ALGs will have night landing capabilities that could prove a big asset to the forces manning the borders. These landing grounds will also be used by the civil flights, providing a fillip to infrastructure and tourism in the region.

“The local populations and local government has provided support to a great extent in the venture and this will also provide further impetus for tourism,” said Deo. 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.

A similar exercise is being undertaken in Ladakh. Currently the Air Force has one operational ALG at Daulet Beg Oldi. Plans are afoot to develop one ALG at Nyoma and extend the Kargil airfield to enable fighter operations.