The Indian Air Force has focussed on air defence preparedness in the eastern and north-eastern sector with an eye on the country’s ‘eastern neighbour’.
On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the IAF carried out a drill of its Sukhoi or Su-30 jets from the civilian airport on the outskirts of Guwahati. It was the first-of-its-kind operation, also conducted in Kolkata and Durgapur in West Bengal, from civilian airports in the area of operation of the IAF’s Eastern Air Command, headquartered near Shillong.
“This is the first time that the Sukhoi SU-30 class jets are conducting drills from any civil airfield in the Northeast. From the western front earlier, we are now increasing our focus in the east since our eastern neighbour is increasing its capabilities, and we need to have a serious deterrent in order to emulate any threat that may emerge in the future,” Air Commodore Shashank Mishra, the head of IAF station adjoining the airport, said.
