Defence ministry approves purchase of one more C-17 aircraft, clears modernisation projects worth Rs 9,300 crore

Defence ministry approves purchase of one more C-17 aircraft, clears modernisation projects worth Rs 9,300 crore India will buy one more C-17 Globesmaster-III strategic airlift aircraft from the US for around Rs 2,100 crore, the proposal for which was among the Rs 9,300 crore worth of military projects approved by the defence ministry on Friday. Apart from the solitary C-17, which will add to

the 10 such aircraft already inducted by the IAF under a $4.1 billion deal inked with the US in 2011, the Manohar Parrikar-led defence acquisitions council also accorded acceptance of necessity (AoN) to the Rs 5,500 crore procurement of six multi-mission maritime surveillance aircraft for Coast Guard. The other modernisation projects to get AoNs were the Rs 1,265 crore procurement of 1,500 indigenously designed and developed modern NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection systems to be fitted on the Army's infantry combat vehicles (the Russian-origin BMP-IIs) and Rs 419 crore order for 55 indigenous three-dimensional low-level lightweight radars for Army and IAF. IAF wanted to acquire at least three more C-17s to further enhance its strategic airlift capabilities after inducting the first 10 in the 81 Squadron, nicknamed "SkyLords", at the Hindon airbase. But with aviation major Boeing shutting down its assembly line for the C-17s, the IAF will have to make do with only one more now.

India has used the four-engine C-17s for dozens of operations to placecs, including the far-flung Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Leh and Thoise in Eastern Ladakh, as well as "special overseas airlift missions" to countries like Tajikistan and Rwanda. Designed to swiftly airlift a 70-tonne cargo across 4,200-km, the rugged four-engine C-17 can even land at makeshift airstrips in forward areas. A C-17, in fact, had just last month landed at the high-altitude advance landing ground (ALG) at Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh. The C-17 landing at Mechuka, at an altitude of 6,200-feet with just a 4,200-feet long runway, sent a clear strategic signal to China, since the ALG is located just 29-km from the Line of Actual Control. "The landing showed that India can swiftly transport soldiers and equipment even to the rugged terrain of Mechuka, which has several adjacent river valleys interspersed by high mountain ranges that inhibit road connectivity," said an official.