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| C-130J Super Hercules of the Indian Air Force |
AFS Arjan Singh became fully operational, with its full complement of six C-130J Super Hercules strategic aircraft, in the last week of July.
Panagarh is the second location in the country, after Hindan in Ghaziabad, to have a base for the C-130J aircraft. Technicians and engineers from Lockheed Martin have been building hangars and other facilities for these aircraft at Panagarh for over two years. A senior IAF official in New Delhi said an Ilyushin Il-78 mid-air refueller has also been based at Panagarh to extend the endurance of Eastern Air Command (EAC)'s fighter fleet, particularly the Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs.
The hangars and other facilities at the bases at Hindan and Panagarh are hush-hush affairs not without reason. Entire Special Forces units with equipment bunk in air-conditioned quarters below the hangars. This enables them to mobilise within minutes and board the aircraft that are kept ready for take-off at any point of time. When not in actual operation, Special Forces personnel train both with and without the aircraft.
"Panagarh is crucial also because the Indian Army's newly raised 17 Strike Corps is to be headquartered there. Panagarh will also have one of the two high-altitude infantry divisions (59 Division) of the Corps based there. The 17 Strike Corps is being raised keeping in mind threats from across India's northern border. All these make AFS Arjan Singh a key strategic location. It is being kept at a state of full preparedness for 'short and swift' operations," the officer added.
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