IAF to hold air combat drill along LAC in Northeast amid tensions with China

The 'command-level' exercise, to be held between February 1 and 5, is intended to test the IAF's operational readiness

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is reportedly gearing up for a major air combat exercise along India's northeastern border with China, amid heightened tensions with Beijing over the 32-month-long stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

According to a report by The Times of India, the IAF will carry out said exercise in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and other states in the Northeast in the coming month, with the exercise involving frontline fighters, helicopters, drones, and other aircraft.

The 'command-level' exercise, to be held between February 1 and 5, is intended to test the operational readiness of the Shillong-headquartered Eastern Air Command, the report stated.

Also Read | India in advanced stage of talks with US for procurement of MQ-9B Predator drones

"It [the exercise] will include all assets in the eastern sector, including Rafales and Sukhoi-30MKI fighters flying from air bases like Hasimara, Tezpur, and Chabua," TOI quoted a source as saying.

The reported exercise in the Northeast comes a month after the IAF conducted another two-day exercise in the region last month following physical clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.

Commenting on the difference between last month's exercise and the one planned for February, the source told TOI that the forthcoming one would be "bigger in scale" and would include a larger variety of platforms, "including the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, Chinook heavy-lift and Apache attack helicopters, among others."

The planned drill comes on the back of China's continued deployment of troops and heavy weaponry along the LAC, something that has continued for three winters now.