IAF fighters to secure Delhi skies till RD parade

To secure the capital from aerial terror attacks following an intelligence alert, the IAF will maintain a three-fighter aircraft detachment at Hindan air base in Ghaziabad near New Delhi till the Republic Day parade.

To secure the capital from aerial terror attacks following an intelligence alert, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will maintain a three-fighter aircraft detachment at Hindan air base in Ghaziabad near here till the Republic Day parade on January 26.

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"We are basing our fighter aircraft at Hindan and will continue to have the detachment there till the Republic Day parade, as there are intelligence inputs of a 9/11-type aerial terror attacks," IAF officials told PTI in New Delhi.

IAF's Hindan fighter detachment will comprise of MiG-21 Bisons from the Ambala air base and MiG-29s from Adampur and Halwara air bases in Punjab, and these aircraft would be based there till Republic Day in turns.

The MiG-29s are a twin-engine air defence aircraft, whereas Bisons are upgraded ground attack variant of the MiG-21 fighters.

Officials said the IAF considered the Bisons to be "more than enough" to handle the kind of threat from rogue flying objects by the IAF.

"We are not expecting any attack from Pakistani fighter aircraft, but from a small or medium-sized aircraft operated by terrorists and to tackle the threat from such flying objects, the MiG-21 is more than enough," they said.

A week before the Republic Day parade, MiG-29s would return to the base for keeping the capital's skies secure.