New Delhi: As the country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed its transport fleet to aid the efforts, emerging as the essential transport service for the government.
Sources in the IAF told ThePrint that the force’s transport aircraft have in the last month flown over hundreds of sorties ferrying over 336 tonnes of medicine, ration and other essential supplies to various parts of the country.
The work is being carried out through transport aircraft such as the C-17, C 130, AN 32 and the Dornier. The IAF’s primary transport chopper, the MI-17 V5s, have also been put into action and have been transporting swab samples for testing.
The sources told ThePrint that nearly 70 sorties have been flown to carry 300 tonnes of essential supplies just in the northern sector — covering Leh, Ladakh and Srinagar — since 25 March.
The sorties in the northern sector also include routine air maintenance missions.
“All other non essential movements have been stopped for now,” a senior IAF officer told ThePrint, referring to the regular movement of men and material carried out by the transport fleet on a daily basis.
Also read: ‘For just a bloody cannon’: How a MiG-21 nearly took down a PAF Sabre on debut for IAF in 1965
Carrying material across the length and breadth of the country
The IAF had earlier said that it has earmarked aircraft at nodal points to airlift medical supplies and equipment at short notice to proactively support operations against Covid-19.
According to the IAF, its transport aircraft have airlifted essential medical supplies and commodities from nodal points to various states such as Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Nagaland and the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
The service had deployed aircraft to fly in medical supplies and doctors to Leh and fly out blood samples for Covid-19 testing to Chandigarh and Delhi.
By 1 April, the IAF had airlifted nearly 25 tonnes of essential medical supplies from Delhi, Surat and Chandigarh to Manipur, Nagaland and the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
The medical supplies included personal protective equipment (PPE), hand sanitisers, surgical gloves, thermal scanners apart from medical personnel.
Earlier this month, the IAF had airlifted essential medical supplies and commodities from nodal points to Manipur, Nagaland and Gangtok in the North Eastern region.
On 6 April, an AN-32 aircraft airlifted personnel and 3.5 tonnes of ICMR medical equipment from Chennai to Bhubaneshwar for setting up testing labs and facilities in Odisha.
The IAF had also airlifted essential medical supplies and commodities from nodal points to Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Mohanbari in the North Eastern region; Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Bareilly and Agra in the Central region.
The force recently flew dedicated sorties for the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and airlifted around nine tonnes of raw material from various nodal points for producing personal protective equipment at DRDO production facilities.
“It also airlifted N95/99 Masks manufactured by DRDO. IAF is ensuring that all necessary precautions as specified by the Govt of India to prevent the spread of the contagion, are put in place while undertaking these tasks,” an IAF statement had mentioned.
Also read: HAL cuts its profit on Tejas Mark 1A deal by 50%, fighter jets to take to sky by 2022
Essentials to other countries
The IAF has also helped New Delhi send essential supplies to foreign countries and has flown back Indians stuck in other nations.
The IAF had airlifted critical medical supplies to Male, Maldives, as ‘Operation Sanjeevani’ on 2 April after the island nation faced shortage of essential medical supplies.
On 26 February, the force flew medical supplies to China and evacuated 112 passengers from Hubei province in China. Among these, 76 were Indian citizens.
Last month, an IAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft evacuated 58 Indians from Iran and also carried 529 samples for investigation.
According to an IAF statement, the service is providing medical care to Indian citizens evacuated from Iran and Malaysia at air bases at Hindon and Tambaram respectively.
The service has set up nine quarantine facilities of 200-300 personnel capacity each, at nodal IAF bases across the country. COVID-19 testing laboratory at Command Hospital Air Force, Bengaluru is operational for testing.
The service has also started a 24×7 crisis management cell at Air Headquarters and various Command Headquarters.
Also read: How India’s young IAS officers ensured a smooth lockdown in every corner of the country