Port Blair: Andaman and Nicobar islands will
get its air defence infrastructure bolstered with the
tri-service military command here working on a project to
strengthen a string of airstrips for operating both transport
and fighter aircraft.
Navy Chief Nirmal Verma told reporters, during on a visit
to the Milan 13-nation naval exercise that began today at the
strategically important archipelago on India's east, that a
couple of airstrips in Shipur and Campbell were being extended
to accommodate large sized transport aircraft.
Currently, these airstrips, with a length of about 1,000
metres, handle only helicopters.
Moreover, the Andaman and Nicobar Command, set up in 2001
as a joint services formation, would also add to its number of
the existing 15 ships stationed here in the near future.
"Shipur airfield is with a short airstrip of about 1,000
metres. We hope to increase it slightly. At the moment, only
smaller aircraft are being operated from here. We will also
provide night vision facility in the course of time," Verma
said.
Naval officers pointed out that the plan was to have a
"string of airfields" in the archipelago with the capacity to
operate all types of aircraft including fighters such as the
potent Sukhois.
The airstrips would also be able to handle large transport
aircraft like IL-76 and AN-32s in all of these airfields for
better coverage of the region, which is close to the Indian
Ocean choke point, the Malacca Straits.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 5, 2010, 19:10
