Chinook adds power to Air Force

AIR Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa on Monday formally inducted four US-made advanced multi-mission all-weather Chinook helicopters at Air Force Station 12 Wing here. Two hangars and logistics facilities were created here for the Chinook helicopters. The Chinook, twin-engine, tandem rotor, is multi-role, vertical-lift platform, which is used for transporting troops, artillery, equipment and fuel. Each helicopter, manufactured by US aerospace major Boeing, has a payload capacity of about 10 tonnes which is a major boost to India’s strategic airlift capability.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) received its first CH-47F (I) Chinook on February 10 at the Mundra port in Gujarat. The Chinook will be used to move troops, artillery, ammunition, supplies and equipment on the battlefield. Besides, they can be used for medical evacuation. “Our country faces a multitude of security challenges and we require a vertical-airlift capability for a very diversified terrain. The Chinook will give the IAF a quantum leap to transport cargo to precarious high-altitude locations,” Dhanoa told reporters after the induction ceremony. He said the Chinooks were procured with India specific enhancements to increase their flexibility for heli-lift operations like search, rescue operations and air ambulance.

The aircraft is all-weather capable and state-of-the-art night vision goggles will permit all operations even at night, he informed. “Although we have been operating the medium lift Mi-17 and heavy lift Mi-26 helicopters, the Chinook, with its operating ceiling of 20,000 feet, will redefine heli-lift not only in operations like inter-valley transport of troops, airlifting artillery guns and heavy under slung loads for the Border Roads Organisation, but also for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to far-flung crisis hit areas,” he said. A confident Dhanoa added that the IAF’s expertise would enable it to exploit the machine’s potential in a manner that will make it a game-changer in heli-lift operations. India had signed a deal with the US in September 2015 for 15 Chinook helicopters at an outlay of Rs 8,845 crore. Salil Gupte, India head of Boeing, said the Chinooks were delivered ahead of the scheduled time.

The IAF had sent 15 pilots and 15 engineers to the US in 2018 for training on the Chinooks. According to Boeing, the Chinook had an unsurpassed ability to deliver heavy payloads to high altitudes, and is eminently suitable for operations in the high Himalayas. The aircraft was battle-tested in diverse, extreme conditions throughout the world, and had proven capability to operate in the wide range of conditions that typify the Indian subcontinent, it added.

INDIAN Air Force (IAF) chief B S Dhanoa on Monday said that Rafale jets will the best combat aircraft in the Indian sub-continent and once these are inducted, Pakistan won’t dare to come near the Line of Control (LoC) or the international border. In an exclusive talk with ANI on Rafale’s air-to air capability in a combat situation, Dhanoa said, “When the Rafale comes in, it will ensure that the deterrence of our air defence will increase manifold and they (Pakistan) will not come anywhere near our Line of Control or border. That kind of capability we will possess for which presently they (Pakistan) don’t have an answer.”

On the sidelines of a function organised here for the induction of four US-made Chinook helicopters, he was asked about the situation on February 27 when Pakistani F-16 jets tried to attack Indian military positions, a day after the IAF strikes in Balakot in Pakistan in response to the Pulwama terror attack. The first Rafale aircraft under a 36-plane deal with France is scheduled to be delivered in September to the IAF. In military circles, there has been a talk that if Rafales were in the IAF, these would have not have allowed the Pakistan planes to come close to the LoC. The Rafales will be armed with Meteor air-to-air missiles which have the capability of shooting down enemy planes at strikes ranges upto 150 kms. Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa asserted that at present, it is going to be the best aircraft in terms of the weapons capability in the Indian sub-continent and would be also the best in comparison with what China and Pakistan have.

“We are going to get Rafale in the month of September. Rafale will give a tremendous jump to our capability and it is superior to all the aircraft in the inventory of both our adversaries,” he said. Meanwhile, in response to a question on Pakistan’s claim that Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan flew a JF-17 and led from the front on its National Day, Chief Marshal Dhanoa took a dig at him saying he should be asked where was flying the fighter plane, in the rear cockpit? The Rafale jet deal controversy has been on the boil over the last few months. Congress has alleged irregularities in the deal for 36 aircraft and claimed that the Narendra Modi Government is buying them at a price much higher than the one that was being negotiated by the previous Government.