Night flying is a tough deal for any fighter pilot, especially during war. Which is why three squadrons based at the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Pune base are focusing on improving their night flying skills in a bid to strengthen their capability to destroy any attack on the country.
These fighter pilots are training hard at the Pune base with IAF’s finest fighter aircraft, the Sukhoi 30MKI. However, according to IAF officials, increasing commercial flights at the Pune airport is burdening their air traffic control system. They are of the opinion that the new airport can reduce their burden.
The IAF will celebrate the 79th Air Force Day on October 8 and before the occasion, the officials displayed their might of frontline fighters SU-30 MKI — a display of Pune’s role in national security. The three SU-30 MKI squadrons — Lightening, Rhinos and Lions — are based at Lohegaon. A senior IAF official said, “Pune is one of the most important bases because of its location.
Therefore, three squadrons of SU-30 MKI are placed here. Our fighters are undergoing rigorous night training sessions. If a pilot is skilled in a night flying exercise, he will be ready for any kind of flying.”
The two squadrons at the Lohegaon base had recently undertaken a night flight mock combat exercise by creating a war like situation. Officials explained that one squadron was assigned the task of getting into each other’s territory and bomb targets, while the other squadrons had to defend. The task went on for two hours, after which the pilots reviewed the exercise, to identify mistakes.
The regular SU-30 MKI exercise is interrupted by commercial flights as the runway is used by the civil airport, which shares the runway with the IAF. The movement of both the fighter and commercial aircraft on the runway is monitored by the Air Force’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) system.
However, Air Force officials feel that the increasing number of commercial flights is putting an additional load on the ATC. Senior air traffic control officer Wing Commander PCP Anand said, “Though the runway belongs to the Air Force, it is shared with commercial flights, which are on the increase.
Earlier, there were 36 flights, but now the number has gone up to 42 daily flights, which add to the ATC system’s load. We have to monitor the daily exercise of the fighter aircraft too. If Pune has a new airport, it will have a separate ATC unit and that will reduce our burden.”
► We have to monitor the daily exercise of fighter aircraft too. If Pune has a new airport, it will have a separate ATC unit and that will reduce our burden
No comments:
Post a Comment