Night-landing facility in Himalayas

The “night landing capability for airfields in the northern and western theatres” was one of the main areas of discussions at the Army commanders’ conference that began here on Monday.

Beginning of the winter will witness more night-landing by the Indian Air Force’s medium-lift troop carrier IL-76.

“Due to low temperatures at night, the carrying capacity of IL-76 would increase, thus helping in winter stocking as also for operational logistic build up,” said an officer. Addressing top commanders, Army Chief V K Singh asked them to remain vigilant on the northern and western borders.

Singh also discussed proposals for accretion of forces within a short span of time and improving border infrastructure, which includes uplifting the conditions of habitats in high-altitude areas.

The Army chief’s cautioning to his top commanders comes days after Singh went public with his concerns from the presence of 4000-odd personnel from China’s People Liberation Army.

Most of these men are engineers involved in various infrastructure projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.