IAF finishes blacktopping of landing strip near LAC
The Indian Air Force’s Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Nyoma, close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, has now been blacktopped (paved runway), while work is going on to extend the runway so that it can eventually handle fighter jets, according to sources.
“The work is about 15% complete and is now stopped due to winter. It will restart in April. It is on track to be completed in two years,” the source stated. Responding to apprehensions that the airfield could become an easy target for China as it is only 30 km away from the LAC, the source said it was very well located and would prove to be a great advantage for India. The first landing of a fixedwing aircraft at the Nyoma ALG took place on September 18, 2009, when an AN32 transport aircraft landed there. The runway is now being extended to 9,000 or 10,000 feet to enable it to handle all fighter aircraft in the IAF’s inventory.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had laid the foundation stone for the ALG last September, exuding confidence that this airfield would prove to be a “gamechanger” for the armed forces. The ALG’s cost of development is approximately ₹200 crore.
Strategic infrastructure
The IAF also has airfields at Leh, Thoise and Kargil, as well as ALGs at Daulet BegOldie and Fukche. However, the Leh and Thoise airfields are located in interior areas and officials said that the weather at Nyoma is much more stable in comparison to the other two airfields.
At the height of the standoff with Chinese forces in 2020, the IAF moved its Mi17 mediumlift helicopters, CH47F Chinook heavylift helicopters, and AH64E Apache attack helicopters to Nyoma to support the forward deployment of troops, as well as for surveillance and intelligence gathering purposes.
As reported by The Hindu earlier, to overcome the challenges that fighter jets face at highaltitude airfields, the engines are being tweaked to enable them to start at low temperatures.