The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday operationalised the Mudh-Nyoma air base in eastern Ladakh, strengthening the region’s defence against China.
Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, Chief of Air Staff, landed at the airbase on board a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, a highly versatile multi-role transport aircraft flown by India. He was accompanied by Western Air Command chief Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra.
The strategic air base is located at a height of around 13,700 feet, and at a distance of around 25 kilometres from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. Mudh-Nyoma is now capable of operations for fighter jets, helicopters and transport planes, aiding the troop and logistics movement along the LAC.
The airbase was once a mud-paved landing ground, which the Border Roads Organisation last year upgraded to a proper runway under a Rs 218 crore project. It’s now capable of minor maintenance, launching and recovering planes, and housing crew to handle operations such as air traffic controllers, hangars, radars, weather stations and fuelling.
Mudh-Nyoma, located on the banks of the Indus, where temperatures drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius during winter, is the fourth IAF base in Ladakh, after Leh, Kargil, and Thoise. Daulat Beg Oldi is the world’s highest airfield near the LAC in the midst of the Karakoram ranges in Ladakh. It serves as an advanced landing ground for transport aircraft such as the An-32 and C-130J Super Hercules, which enables vital troop and equipment supply in the region.
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 "Nyoma air base near China border operational, IAF chief lands aboard C-130J")
