An Mi-17 1V helicopter of Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday lifted a light field gun of the army at Tuting advance landing ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh situated close to China border.
IAF spokesperson at its eastern command headquarters in Shillong (Meghalaya), wing commander Ratnakar Singh said this was for the first time a Mi-17 carried out such a complicated and challenging operation. “With this the time needed for deployment of guns at forward post will drastically reduce in case of any operational contingency,” he said.
Sources said the gun will now be transported by army to their post situated close to the border.
Tuting advance landing ground, situated atop 4,070 feet in Upper Siang district, was reopened by IAF in December 2016. The ALG remained unused since the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
