Jodhpur and Chhabua to be next Su-30 bases

NEW DELHI: To strengthen its air combat machinery along the borders with both Pakistan and China, India has decided to deploy its air superiority Su-30MKI fighter aircraft in Jodhpur in Rajasthan and Chhabua in Assam.

"We have decided to deploy the next two new squadrons of Su-30MKIs in Jodhpur and Chhabua," a highly-placed IAF officer said here on Sunday.

IAF will get these warplanes by the end of this plan period. "We are hoping that both these bases will be operational with Su-30s by the end of the 2007-12 plan period," the officer said.

Jodhpur will be the first Su-30MKI base along the Pakistan border. Till now, the IAF has deployed its main strike fighter either in Lohegaon near Pune or closer to China in Bareilly.

At the moment, IAF has three squadrons of Su-30 MKIs, two of which are based at Air Force Station (AFS) Lohegaon and the third is stationed at AFS Bareilly.

The fourth squadron of Su-30s for the IAF will be raised at Lohegaon in February next year and one of the existing Su-30 squadrons from Lohegaon will be moved to Tezpur in Assam by 2009.

IAF has started operating Su-30s in high-altitude areas too and currently one of the three squadrons is conducting practise flights from the Leh air base in Jammu and Kashmir.