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The Phalodi airbase, about 100 kms from the
international border with Pakistan, will be the
sixth airbase in Rajasthan.
“The airbase will be home to the IAF’s
frontline war jets Sukhoi-30 MKI. This comes after
deployment of the aircraft at Tezpur airbase in
Assam last year. Plans are also afoot to station
Sukhois at Chabua air station in the northeast
and Halwara in Punjab,” a senior IAF official
told India Strategic requesting
anonymity.
 Phalodi
straddles between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur fighter
airbases in Rajastjan and will be ready to undertake
all types of IAF operations. Chairman Chiefs of
Staff Committee and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal
P V Naik inaugurated the airbase on March 6. Replete
with modern infrastructure, the airbase is capable
of operating all types of fighter, transport and
rotary wing aircraft.
The project was conceived in 1980s but put in
cold storage. However, with specific consideration
to the geo-political scenario and the need for
in-built flexibility in operational requirements,
the government approved the formation of this
new air base in April 2000, just after the Kargil
conflict to evict Pakistani troops from the heights
they infiltrated into.
“Since 2001 we were operating an Air Maintenance
Unit from the airbase. But now all kind of operations
can be carried out from the airbase,” the
official added.
Phalodi is strategically and operationally very
important for the IAF. Being closer to the western
border, it would give an edge to the Indian forces
in terms of early warning about any misadventures
from across the border in a conflict scenario.
According to the sources, if India is attacked,
Phalodi would make easier for IAF to penetrate
deeper across the border, hit harder and return
to base sooner. Parts of Punjab, Rajasthan and
Gujarat would benefit from the base and it will
provide cover to the armoured formations also.
Phalodi would fall under the South Western Air
Command, reflecting its growing strategic importance
in India’s security dimensions.
 The
IAF’s other bases in Rajasthan are located
at Suratgarh, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and
Barmer. The first three are close to the international
border with Pakistan and are backed by the bases
at Jodhpur and Barmer.
The inauguration ceremony comprised a flypast
by Jaguar, Mig-29 and Mig-21 fighter formations.
A Jaguar strike aircraft, which landed on the
opening day, was the first to touch dowan at the
new base.
Last year, IAF had inducted Sukhois for the first
time in the northeast along the India-China border
in Tezpur, which become the third Sukhoi air base
in the country. Another squadron of the frontline
jets will be stationed at the Chabua air base
under IAF’s military policy to boost security
along the border with China in the northeast.
Halwara in Western Air Command will be able to
house the Sukhoi squadrons by the end of 2011.
The work has begun at the base to create infrastructure
for the air superiority fighters.
Currently India is operating nearly six squadrons
of the Russian-built fighter aircraft. Out of
them three are stationed at Lohegaon in Pune (Maharashtra)
and two in Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh). Each squadron
operates 18-20 aircraft.
In the next five years, the IAF plans increase
the strength of Sukhois in its fleet to nearly
300.
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