Countering China: IAF Successfully Lands C-17 in Arunachal Pradesh
Operation demonstrates the IAF’s capability to reach its Advanced Landing Ground just 29 km from Sino-India Border.
Improving the Air Force's disaster preparedness in remote mountainous areas of Arunachal Pradesh, a trial landing of military transport aircraft C-17 Globemaster has been successful in Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground.
IAF officials said at an elevation of 6,200 feet above mean sea level and with a landing surface only 4,200 feet long, a trial landing was carried out by the mighty C-17 Globemaster aircraft on Thursday, thereby validating its short field landing performance at high altitude.
This operation demonstrated the IAF's capability to reach out to this remote ALG (Advanced Landing Ground) located just 29 km from the Sino-Indian border.
The ALG at Mechuka in the Yargyap river valley of West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh had been upgraded recently.
The road connectivity to the nearest air and rail head at Dibrugarh, about 500 km away, is generally two days of travel, considering the roads get damaged due to frequent landslides.
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.
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 northeast.
Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
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