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IAF upgradation along LAC not against China: Air Chief

October 07, 2009 20:51 IST

Indian Air Force chief P V Naik said on Tuesday that the upgradation of the air-field infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control with China was not "adversary specific".

"
I have been trying to address this particular issue that our capabilities are not adversary specific. We are capability-based. We need to-- upgrade the existing air-field infrastructure in the East, long overdue. It is not adversary specific. It is long overdue. "We should have done it earlier. Now that we have got the go-ahead, we are going ahead with that," Naik told NDTV.

The IAF is strengthening its air defence in Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control with China by putting in place a series of special mountain and light-weight radars. The Air chief also said the IAF is going to strengthen the runways whenever required, strengthen the existing infrastructure, in terms of accommodation and many other things which are required for modern aircraft.

"It also follows that we are going to base modern aircraft like the SU-30s there. That is also long overdue. The Eastern Air Command keeps crying-- give me SU-30s. So, we have based the modern aircraft over there. "There are mountain radars which have been planned for Eastern and Western both sectors. So, all these things are to build a certain set of capabilities," he said.

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