Article Posted on : - Jun 16, 2009

A file photo of Sukhoi 30 MKI

NEW DELHI (BNS): India’s strategy to progressively base Sukhois in the North-East came to fruition on Monday after four of the jets formally touched down at Tezpur airbase in Assam.

‘‘Tezpur will have two Sukhoi squadrons (36 jets) in the near future. Next, we are looking at Chabua, also in Assam, to base these fighters as and when they come in,’’ The Economic Times quoting a senior IAF officer said.

It said, India’s move to counterbalance China’s buildup of military infrastructure in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and south China by basing its latest "air dominance" Sukhoi-30 MKI in the eastern sector has finally added some much-needed military muscle in the region.

"Sukhois will bolster our capabilities against China, which has at least four airbases in TAR and another three-four in south China for operations against India,’’ the officer added.

Induction of Sukhois at Tezpur and other airbases will clearly inject some credibility into India’s ‘‘active deterrence’ ’ posture against China, especially since the 3,500-km Agni-III missile will be ready for operational deployment only by 2011. Fully-loaded Sukhois, with a cruising-speed range of 3,200 km, after all, will be able to strike high-value targets inside China after taking off from Tezpur, the paper said.