IAF to provide aerial protection to major cities

New Delhi, Nov 21 (PTI) Aiming to prevent any 9/11
type attack in the country, the Indian Air Force is planning
deploying detachments of fighter aircraft close to major
cities to thwart any such attempts of terrorists by using the
aerial route.
Under its plan, a small detachment of three to four
dedicated aircraft would be deployed close to major cities of
India including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune to provide
cover against any threats from hijacked aircraft, low speed
and high speed aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV),
micro-light aircraft, paragliders, balloons and
remote-controlled aero-models.
"At present also, the IAF provides aerial protection
to these cities but under the new plan, it will have dedicated
aircraft round-the-clock for carrying out these
responsibilities," senior Indian Defence Ministry officials
told PTI here.
The protection provided to these cities would be same
as that provided to the national capital during the
Commonwealth Games and the Republic Day parade, they added.
During the Republic Day and the Independence Day, the
IAF deploys fighter aircraft at Hindon air base in Delhi and
frontline fighters such as Su-30 MKI, MiG-21 'Bison' and
MiG-29 are kept on operational readiness mode at air bases in
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, Sirsa and Adampur in Haryana and
Srinagar to tackle any possible intrusions.
The plan to provide aerial cover to these cities was
formulated by the IAF following the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai
two years back after intelligence agencies suggested that
non-state actors might launch an aerial attack.
Officials said that to provide a robust aerial cover
to these cities, the IAF will also go ahead with strengthening
of its ground-based infrastructure and enhance capabilities
for an early detection of incoming enemy aircraft. PTI