Nyoma airbase near LAC now operational

The Indian Air Force's strategic airbase at Nyoma in eastern Ladakh is now capable of conducting operations of fighter jets, helicopters and transport planes.

Located just 30 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, Nyoma was a mud-paved landing ground. It got a proper runway made last year by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which was tasked to complete the allied infrastructure at the airbase by October this year.

4th base in Ladakh

Nyoma is the fourth IAF base in Ladakh. The airbase in Leh is operational, while full-fledged airstrips with all facilities exist in Kargil and Thoise (base of Siachen). Besides, a mud-paved runaway exists at Daulat Baig Oldie where special operations planes land.

The base is now capable to launch and recover planes and also carry out minor maintenance jobs.

“Planes can now land, take off and be sustained at Nyoma,” sources said. The word ‘sustained’ is military parlance for ability to maintain the plane and have enough habitation to house crew to handle operations such as radars, weather stations and fuelling. The addition of infrastructure at the Nyoma airbase will carry on.

Nyoma, located on the banks of the Indus, is some 180 km southeast of Leh at an altitude of 13,700 ft. With winter temperatures dropping to minus 20°C, the maintenance facilities have to cater to the extreme cold climate.

Nyoma is the fourth IAF base in Ladakh. The airbase in Leh is operational, while full-fledged airstrips with all facilities exist in Kargil and Thoise (base of Siachen). Besides, a mud-paved runaway exists at Daulat Baig Oldie where special operations planes land.

The Ministry of Defence is separately reviving a defunct advanced landing ground (ALG) at Chushul in Eastern Ladakh bordering China. Chushul is located just 4 km from the LAC. As per a ‘future roadmap for the IAF, this ALG is to be developed to operate UAVs and helicopters. However, the length of existing air-strip provide for landing of IAF’s Airbus C-295 and the C-130-J special operations plane.

Chushul is a natural flat at 14,000 feet on the Ladakh plateau. This was last used during the 1962 India-China war when the IAF’s Soviet-origin plane AN-12 airlifted a troop of AMX-13 tanks from Chandigarh to Chushul.

ALG, is military nomenclature for mud-paved runways that exist close to the front. Reviving an ALG would mean stationing a small unit that can direct the path of planes, copters and UAV’s. Over time infrastructure is added to allow for stay of a small crew.