Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 06: The infrastructural facilities of the Southern Air Command (SAC) would be augmented with the new airfield coming up at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, SAC, A K Trikha, has said. Addressing reporters here in connection with the 71st anniversary celebrations of the IAF, he said the construction of the airfield, where forces could be stationed permanently, would be completed in two to three years. Trikha said the infrastructure at SAC headquarters at Akkulam here could respond to any situation developing in this part of the country. The SAC operated half a squadron of AN-32 AC and a unit of Mi-8 helicopters primarily for looking after the Andaman and Nicobar islands, Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands in the Arabian Sea. The SAC, which was close to the strategically vulnerable major 'sea lanes' of communications, also had an air defence radar for keeping an eye on the vast southern skies. Responding to a question, he said the IAF had no plans to phase out Mig-21 aircrafts in view of frequent accidents reported. No professional source had suggested that Mig-21s were not airworthy. "We have flown it for a very long time and it continues to be the backbone of IAF," he said.
Bureau Report