India would hunt and destroy enemy aircraft

India would not hesitate to hunt and destroy hostile aircrafts that violate its airspace posing threat to the country’s sovereignty.

Indian Air Force Vice Chief- designate, Air Marshal, KK Nohwar said at the Eastern Air Command headquarters here today that every nation has a right to protect its sovereignty and deal with threats accordingly.

Air Marshal Nohwar warned that enemy aircrafts would “meet the same fate as the Pakistan Navy’s reconnaissance aircraft Atlantic,” which was shot down by the Indian Air Force in 1999 after it violated Indian airspace.

Atlantic on a reconnaissance mission violated India’s airspace in 1999 after the Kargil war. It ignored the Indian Air Force’s order to land and eventually was shot down in which 16 Pakistani Naval airmen men were killed.

On a different note, the Vice-chief designate said, Indian Air Force taking over six Advanced Landing Grounds in Arunachal Pradesh was to help the civilian population there and to counter Chinese threat.

“Since Arunachal is a landlocked State the ALGs would be the lifeline of civilians living in remote areas of the State. The ALGs are meant to reach out to more civilian population where bigger aircrafts can make sorties to send food supplies,” the Air Marshal said.

The ALGs that have been taken over by the IAF in Arunachal Pradesh are – Tuting, Mechuka, Along, Pasighat, Vijaynagar and Ziro.

Air Marshal Nohwar, currently serving as the EAC chief, said that the Indian Air Force in its modernisation process is phasing out the MIG-21 and replacing them with advanced aircrafts like the multi-role combat planes Su-30 MKIs and the indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft.

He added old radars would be replaced with modern ones and even mountain radars would be used keeping in view the topography of the region.

“However, the single biggest challenge for upgrading infrastructures in the region is its climatic condition with rainfall being one of the main hurdles,” Air Marshal Nohwar said.