IAF’s first forward post in 30 years

Tuesday , April 6 , 2010
IAF first forward post in 30 years

SUJAN DUTTA

New Delhi, April 5: The Indian Air Force will open its first fully equipped Forward Operating Base (FOB) in more than 30 years at Phalodi in Rajasthan tomorrow, about 100km from the border with Pakistan, drawing attention not only to air defence gaps but also to the tardy pace of infrastructure- building in the armed forces.

Phalodi is on the national highway between Jaisalmer, which is a forward base where full squadrons are not deployed permanently, and the South West Air Command headquarters in Jodhpur.

“Phalodi will fill a crucial gap in our air defence in the western sector,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Tarun Singha said today.

Across the border opposite Phalodi to the northwest are two major Pakistani military bases in Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan. Air force station Phalodi is set to become operational a decade after the government approved its formation in April 2000.

Phalodi will be the sixth airbase in Rajasthan. The other five were built in the colonial period before 1947 — but have been upgraded — for the Royal Indian Air Force in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Suratgarh and Uttarlai (Barmer). Rajasthan (or Rajputana) was not the focus of military operations by the British before 1947 because the border here was drawn only at the time of Partition.

When Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik opens the Phalodi base tomorrow, he will expect that it will be the first in a series of inaugurals he has to make. The IAF has nearly 70 airbases across the country. The force has taken up an infrastructure- modernisation programme that has been limping.

As part of the programme, five advance landing grounds in the Northeast opposite the China border are being upgraded. Last September, the IAF opened the Nyoma base, also near the China border in Ladakh, and before that two more in Daulat Beg Oldie and Fukche. But in none of these landing grounds can the IAF deploy its assets permanently.

Unlike them, the base in Phalodi is being equipped for two full squadrons (about 40 aircraft) of fighter planes. The aircraft likely to be based in Phalodi would be MiG 21 Bisons that have limited combat power (such as shorter sorties because they cannot be refuelled in mid-air) compared with the more modern aircraft (such as the Sukhoi). The MiG 21 Bisons are tasked for air defence and interception of enemy aircraft, and MiG 29 aircraft are used for combat air patrol and escort duties.