India conducting paradrop training near LAC to check China

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 a part of the overall plan to strategically counter China's massive build-up of military infrastructure all along the unresolved border.

A major milestone in the ongoing endeavour was achieved just before Chinese defence minister General Liang Guanglie's visit to India last week when the first-ever "static line paradrop" from a heavy-lift Ilyushin-76 aircraft was conducted at Nyoma on August 29, sources said.

The advanced landing ground (ALG) at Nyoma in eastern Ladakh, located just 23 km 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 planning at the Chandigarh airbase and the Delhi-based Western Air Command.

"Though Nyoma's 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 also already chalked out a detailed Rs 3,500 crore project, though it is yet to recieve the finance ministry's nod, to upgrade the Nyoma ALG into a "full-fledged airbase" with a 12,000 feet runway capable of handling all kinds of aircraft to ensure "both defensive and offensive options" in the sector.