In a powerful message to our adversaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself landed at the Moran Bypass in Assam’s Dibrugarh on February 14, in an IAF transport aircraft. After touching down on the newly built Emergency Landing Facility(ELF) in an IAF C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft on the reinforced stretch of National Highway 127, PM Modi dedicated the 4.2 km ELF to the nation. The event also saw spectacular aerial display of landing, touchdown and takeoff featuring Rafale and Sukhoi fighter jets, witnessed by an enthusiastic crowd.
ELF is an alternate runway engineered directly into the National Highway, as per the specifications desired by the IAF. The ELF on NH 127 is the first one in India’s North East though there are 14 such facilities in rest of India, all constructed in the last five years of PM Modi government. This ELF is located just 300 km from the LAC and thus the strategic messaging of such a facility would not be lost on China. It also is a subtle message to the new power structure in Bangladesh, where threat to the Siliguri Corridor emerged during the interim Mohamed Yunus government.
Indian Armed Forces believe in capability development to combat the threat from our adversaries and such capabilities are not country specific. India’s air power and long-range missiles are capable of transcending the immediate borders with deep strike capability. Therefore, PM Modi just stated on his social media handle that this ELF has great importance from strategic point of view and during times of natural disasters. Such facility provides the necessary redundancy to the nearby IAF air bases at Chabua and Tezpur. Since India’s North East is flood prone, the new facility can also be utilised in providing disaster relief to far flung isolated areas.
Traditionally, IAF enjoyed combat edge over the Chinese PLAAF(People’s Liberation Army Air Force) because Indian air bases are located in the plains whereas the Chinese bases are located in the high mountains of Tibetan plateau. Indian fighter jets are able to carry more fuel and thus have extended endurance. Since Chinese air bases are located in the high-altitude terrain, Chinese jets are constrained to carry less fuel and thus have limited endurance against India. In the recent years, China therefore has upgraded airbases along the LAC so as to achieve greater endurance to dominate the Indian air space. India has also upgraded the airbases in India’s East and North East to meet the emerging threat from PLAAF.
India’s plan to acquire 114 Rafale jets from France has to be seen in the light of above development. Along with the proposed acquisition of 288 S-400 missiles from Russia, India plans to bolster its air offensive capability as also boost the air defence cover. In the long term, India is developing an indigenous air defence cover under the project ‘Sudarshan Chakra’. As seen from the recent conflicts, air power is increasingly becoming a major battle winning factor. Coupled with the lethality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drones, we are in an age of air battles in the combat zone. Air power is also a suitable deterrent against the known adversaries.
ELF transforms Siliguri Corridor as a strength in India’s national security apparatus
IAF may need more ELFs in India’s east and north east region. There are plans to construct more such facilities in this region. In addition, India is boosting the security of Siliguri Corridor by establishing three new garrisons in Dhubri (Assam), Kishanganj (Bihar) and Chopra (West Bengal). India is also planning to construct an underground rail network covering approximately 40 km between Tin Mile Haat and Rangapani. Having seen all these areas during my military career, I am convinced that the vulnerability of Siliguri Corridor is going to be significantly reduced in the near future. Moran Bypass ELF further strengthens the Siliguri Corridor.
During his visit to Assam, PM Modi said that his government considers India’s north east as Astha Lakshmi- a symbol of prosperity and strength. It is a fact that this region has achieved great degree of peace, stability and development from PM Modi’s personal indulgence. From the strategic perspective, India’s north eastern region received a major security boost through the ELF at Moran Bypass. Through such measures, India’s air power rises in north east with the strategic capability to be a net security provider in the region and at the global stage.
