15 June,2009 03:00 PM IST | | Agencies
India today inducted four Sukhoi fighter aircraft in Tezpur, which will soon be the base for a full squadron of the IAF's frontline combat jets.
An induction ceremony was organised "in the hangar" of the Tezpur airbase in Assam in the presence of Eastern Air Commander Air Marshal S K Bhan, sources in IAF headquarters here said. "Today's event was only a formal induction.
The four SU-30MKIs had landed here on June 13," they said. The four air superiority fighter aircraft were scheduled to carry out practice sorties from the Tezpur airbase in the last two days, but could not do so due to bad weather, the sources added.
"Soon, Tezpur will be the base for a full Sukhoi squadron, though the IAF is yet to decide which of its four Su-30MKI squadrons will be placed at the disposal of the Eastern Air Command," the sources said.
In fact, Chabua, another fighter base in Assam, is also being readied to host a Sukhoi squadron in the future, they added.
The positioning of the most potent fighter aircraft in the northeast is aimed at strengthening the IAF's assets closer to the Sino-Indian border, the sources said.
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