The Indian Air Force (IAF) station here will host more military aircraft, including jet fighters, in the coming days, senior air force officials said on Tuesday.
The increased military activity, the officials said, was a sign of the IAF fast-tracking its strategic doctrine to exert a stabilising influence over the Indian Ocean from the straits of Malacca to that of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest sea routes. The Southern Air Command (SAC) was the pivot of India’s emerging “look east” strategy, they said.
The bulk of the world’s trade, including a lion share of its oil shipments, passed through the IAF’s sphere of influence. The threat to international maritime trade from pirates and armed non-State actors could not be discounted.
The IAF’s 17th Forward Base Support Unit (FBSU) here would be the staging area for the Southern Air Command’s operations. However, fighter aircraft were unlikely to be based here permanently.
Officials said the bulk of the SAC’s fighters configured to undertake maritime tasks, including surveillance and defence, would be based at its airbases in Thanjavur and Sulur in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The bases would also be home to unmanned aerial vehicles, mid-air refuelling tanker aircraft, and advanced Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACs).
Currently, the SAC has integrated all civilian and military radars. The integration has helped the IAF monitor in real time all air activity over peninsular India, which has unusually high civilian air traffic. Its fighters also regularly practise to operate without disrupting civilian traffic to counter military and unconventional threats from the air.
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