Mirage 2000 jets, air support turned the tide of 1999 Kargil war: Dhanoa

B S Dhanoa said deploying Mirage 2000 jets and air support to ground forces turned the tide of the 1999 war

The integration of targeting pods and laser-guided bomb system for the Mirage 2000 aircraft for the Kargil war was done in a record time of 12 days, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said Monday. Dhanoa was speaking at an event at the Gwalior air base to commemorate 20 years of the Kargil war.

“Modification to the Mirage 2000 was in process and expedited, and system was brought in place for the Kargil War,” the IAF chief said. “The integration of Litening targeting pod and laser-guided bomb system was done in a record time of 12 days,” the IAF chief said.

He also said deploying  jets and air support to ground forces turned the tide of the 1999 war. On the Balakot air strike and subsequent events, the IAF chief said, “Pakistan did not enter our airspace, we hit the terror camps and it failed to target our army bases.”

To a question on the recent crash of an IAF AN-32 aircraft in Arunachal Pradesh, Dhanoa said, “AN-32 aircraft will continue to fly in mountainous areas. We don’t have any replacement.”

“We are in process of getting more modern aircraft which will be put in critical role once received, and AN-32 will be out and used for transport and training purposes,” he said. All 13 air-warriors on board the transport aircraft died in the crash in a heavily forested mountainous area in Arunachal Pradesh this month.

100 hours on, IAF intensifies search ops to trace missing AN-32 aircraft

The Russian-made aircraft took off from Jorhat at 12.27 pm on Monday for the Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground. Its last contact with the ground control was at 1 pm

The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday said it has intensified the search operation to trace the AN-32 aircraft that has gone missing in Arunachal Pradesh after taking off from Assam’s Jorhat, and has deployed more assets and roped in the local civic and police agencies in its effort.

The Russian-made aircraft took off from Jorhat at 12.27 pm on Monday for the Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground. Its last contact with the ground control was at 1 pm. A total of eight aircrew and five passengers were on board the aircraft. All the three armed forces have deployed their assets to trace the aircraft. However, the search-and-rescue (SAR) operation has met with little success so far due to the difficult terrain and rough weather.

According to sources, the rescuers have not received any signal from the emergency locator beacon in the missing plane and there is a possibility that the device may not have been functional. They said the IAF had deployed four Mi-17 helicopters, three advanced light helicopters, of which two belonged to the Army, two Sukhoi-30 aircraft, one C-130 transporter aircraft and one Unmanned Aerial Vehicle of the Army. Two Cheetah helicopters will also join the search operations on Friday, the sources said.

“The IAF has further intensified and expanded search for the missing AN-32. Fighter aircraft, C130, helicopters, aircraft carrying specialised sensors, satellites and all possible civil, police and local administrative agencies have further expanded search based on human and sensor inputs,” the Air Force said in a statement. “The search by parties on foot and night-capable aircraft will continue through the night and satellite data is being analysed regularly,” it added.

Read Full Story : AN 32 Aircraft 

13 killed in Air Force crash; overhaul of AN-32 aircraft languishes

Ukraine-Russia spat over Crimea derails AN-32 fleet modernisation

In a harsh reminder of the unforgiving terrain the Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-32 transport aircraft operate in, one of these IAF workhorses crashed in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday. There were 13 military personnel on board. The aircraft was flying from Jorhat, over high, densely forested mountains, to the advanced landing ground (ALG) at Mechuka, close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. AN-32s carry supplies that sustain army troops on the LAC.

“No wreckage has been sighted so far. IAF is coordinating with Indian Army as well as various government and civil agencies to locate the missing aircraft,” stated the IAF. The crash was an eerie echo of another one almost exactly a decade ago, when 13 personnel were killed in June 2009, when an AN-32 crashed soon after taking off from Mechuka.

In another incident that remains a mystery, an AN-32 aircraft with 29 personnel on board disappeared from radar screens on July 22, 2016, when flying from Chennai to Port Blair in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. No wreckage or bodies have ever been located.

Soon after the 2009 crash, the IAF signed a $400 million contract with Antonov, the Ukrainian firm that built the AN-32, for modernizing the 103 aircraft-strong fleet with improved avionics for flying in difficult conditions. The modernization was also intended to add ten years to the AN-32’s service life.

By 2014, 45 AN-32s were modernized in Ukraine, and then 10 more in the IAF base repair depot in Kanpur. But the programme then stalled when Russia annexed Ukrai­ne’s Crimean Peninsula. Kiev cut ties with Moscow and essential Russian components for the AN-32 upgrade became unavailable…

Pak military takes foreign media, diplomats on tour of Balakot seminary

According to reports, the group was flown from Islamabad in a helicopter to Jabba in Balakot

International News: Pakistan military on Wednesday took a group of international media personnel and foreign diplomats on a tour of the seminary and its surrounding areas in Balakot, where India carried out a counter-terror operation on JeM’s biggest training camp 43 days ago. Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.

Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1. According to BBC Urdu, the group was flown from Islamabad in a helicopter to Jabba in Balakot. They visitors trekked for about one-and-a-half hour to reach the madrassa on the top of a mountain surrounded by lush green trees.

The group, while going up, also saw a ditch on a hillside where India jets dropped its payload, according to Pakistan military. About 150 students, aged 12-13, were present inside the seminary building and were being taught Quran when the group reached inside the madrassa, they said. The visit by the group lasted for about 20 minutes and the participants were allowed to take pictures and even some of them spoke to the teachers present there. Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor held formal and informal chat with the reporters.

“This is an old madrassah and has always been like this,” he said, indicating that Indian claim of hitting it was not true. This was the first formal visit of foreign media and diplomats to the place about which India claimed that its strike killed scores of militants..

IAF's chopper crashes near Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang, 7 personnel killed

The crash of the Mi-17 V5 took place at around 6 am when it was on a maintenance mission

Seven defence personnel were killed after an Mi-17 V5 helicopter of the Indian Air Force crashed in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday.

Tawang district Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Meena said the chopper crashed around 6.30 a.m. killing all the seven people on board.

The chopper was on a routine Air Maintenance Mission, Meena quoted a Defence officer as saying.

The crash site is located at some four-to-five hours drive from Tawang. "It is a forested area," Meena said adding that the bodies are being brought to the helipad near Tawang.

"We are told that there were no civilians and all were defence personnel," he said.

Earlier in July an Indian Air Force chopper engaged in a flood rescue mission crashed near Papum Pare district in the hill state killing four persons including three IAF crew and one India Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel.

The frequently changing weather condition in Arunachal Pradesh makes flying of choppers difficult in the area and there have been several incidents of crashes in the hill state in the past.

The then Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Dorjee Khandu, and four others also died in a chopper crash in the hill state in 2011.

Doklam row: Ready for two-front war with China, Pak, says IAF chief Dhanoa

Chinese troops are currently present in the Chumbi Valley in the Doklam Plateau

 

The Indian Air Force is capable of effectively countering any threat from China and Pakistan simultaneously in a two-front war, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said on Thursday and indicated existing tension between Chinese and Indian troops in Dokalam row.

Noting that the Chinese troops were currently present in the Chumbi Valley in the Doklam Plateau, the IAF chief said a peaceful resolution of the issue would be in the interest of both the countries.

"The two sides are not in a physical face-off as we speak. However, their forces in Chumbi Valley are still deployed and I expect them to withdraw as their exercise in the area gets over," Dhanoa told reporters ahead of IAF Day, which is marked on October 8.

Indian and Chinese troops were locked in an over two-month-long standoff after India stopped the construction of a road by China in Doklam in the Sikkim sector on June 16.

Asked about concerns over Pakistan's tactical nuclear weapons and whether the IAF would be able to disarm Islamabad of its nuclear arsenals if necessary, Dhanoa said his force had the capability of locating, fixing and striking across the border.(economy news:)

Asserting that the IAF was capable of a two-front war to counter China and Pakistan, he, however, said the possibility of such a scenario was "low". At the same time he added that India's response had to be based on the enemy's capability as intentions could change overnight.

"We need a strength of 42 squadrons to carry out full spectrum operations in a two-front (war) scenario. It does not mean that we are not capable of fighting a two-front (war) as we speak. We have a plan B," Dhanoa said....READ MORE