IAF Globemaster lands at Mechuka ALG

KOLKATA: In August, it was a supersonic fighter jet. Less than three months later, it was the turn of a mighty C-17 Globemaster. On Wednesday, the Indian Air Force (IAF) landed one of the largest transport aircraft in the world, weighing over 128 tonnes and having a wingspan of 52 m at the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Mechuka, Arunachal Pradesh. According to senior officers, this was a trial landing that validated the aircraft’s short field landing performance at high altitude.In August this year, a Su-30 MKI air superiority fighter landed at Pasighat ALG in Arunachal.
“ALG Mechuka is at an elevation of 6,200 feet above mean sea level and the landing surface is a mere 4,200 feet long. The operation demonstrated the IAF’s capability to reach out to this remote ALG, barely 29 km from the Sino-Indian border. The ALG at Mechuka in the Yargyap river valley of West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh was upgraded recently. The road connectivity to the nearest air/rail head at Dibrugarh, nearly 500 km away, is generally a two day travel, provided the roads are undamaged due to frequent landslides,” said Wg Cdr S S Birdi, CPRO, ministry of defence, Kolkata.
This is a quantum jump from the existing capability of An-32 and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft that landed at ALGs with men and material. Such airlift capability facilitates speedy transfer in this rugged terrain, interspersed with valleys and high mountain ranges that inhibit road connectivity. In the event of a disaster in the region, C-17 operations to the remote ALG can enhance the speed and quantum of national relief effort.
“IAF has plans to validate airlift operations to and from various ALGs in the region that would usher in a new dimension in enhanced disaster response. This trial landing is expected to pave the way for operation of civil flights operating to and from the newly upgraded ALGs, which has an enormous potential to boost tourism by improving connectivity to remote locations in the North East. The aircraft was received by the Flt Lt S Dixit, Detachment Commander, on its maiden landing in Mechuka. The aircrew involved in this historic landing were Gp Capt T R Ravi, Wg Cdr P Sisodia, Wg Cdr A K Patnaik, MWO Tripathi and WO Nirana Ram,” Birdi added.
Analysts see this as a major development at a time when China is rapidly developing infrastructure, military or otherwise, along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The 55 m long aircraft can carry equipment weighing 80 tonnes and 150 fully-armed soldiers.