The Indian Air Force will shortly be moving a squadron of Su-30MKI to Tezpur in Assam to boost its capabilities vis-à-vis China.
The Indian Air Force will shortly be moving a squadron of Su-30MKI to Tezpur in Assam to boost its capabilities vis-à-vis China in the region.
To counter China's superior ground troops in the north eastern sector, the induction of Su-30MKI squadron would greatly tilt the balance in favour of India.
"We certainly have plans to improve infrastructure in the North East region. We are in process of upgrading four to five airfields in the region and will be moving our assets there along with a squadron of SU 30-MKI based in Tezpur shortly," Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major said.
The newly raised squadron of Su-30MKI will arrive at the renovated base after June 15 when the renovated runway becomes operational.
Then outgoing Indian Air Force Chief also said there is no escalation of threat from China and the Air Force has eliminated that danger.
"There has been no escalation in threat from China. What I meant was that we knew very little about air power of China, We don't want our Air Force to be threat centric. The IAF should be capability centric to deal in all spectrum of warfare and we have a long way to go," Air Chief Marshal Major said.
Air Force Chief designate Air Marshal P V Naik added that the IAF squadrons will be at par with any Air Force to handle any threat by 2017, and added that "our planning is done keeping in view the long term perspective of the armed forces."
This will be the first batch of Su-30MKI fighters to be deployed near the disputed Sino-Indian border under the Eastern Air Command.
The Tezpur airbase went under repair after the MiG-21s were shifted to Chabua. The infrastructure has also been upgraded.
Located less than 350 km from the McMohan Line that divides India and China, the air base was made a MiG-operational flying unit for training young officers before they were commissioned as full-fledged pilots as tension between India and China eased after 1970.
India also has strategic air bases at Hashimara, Baghdogra and Cooch Behar to counter China. Other important bases in this sector are located in Chabua, Guwahati, Jorhat, Kalaikunda and Agartala.
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