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Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 10
The IAF plans to equip its Mi-17 helicopters with small arms fire detection systems (SAFDS) that will warn aircrew about the range, angle and direction of incoming hostile gunfire from the ground during combat operations.
The system will be an added advantage during operations undertaken in close support of ground troops during war, heli-borne insertion of troops, special missions as well as counter-terrorist operations, where helicopters operate in close proximity to the ground.
The SAFDS will also be useful in situations like the terror strike at the Pathankot air base earlier this month, where Mi-17s were also deployed for aerial surveillance and there was a possibility of them being fired upon.
The Indian Air Force has also been providing logistic support to paramilitary forces deployed in anti-Maoist operations and there have been several instances of these being fired upon. At least two Mi-17s are reported to have suffered damaged in such incidents.
The Air Headquarters is in the process of identifying suitable vendors for the equipment and a request for information in this regard has recently been issued by the Ministry of Defence.
The systems will be retrofitted on the Indian Air Force’s M-17 fleet by Kazan Helicopters, the Russian company that manufactures the Mi series of helicopters, rather than the aircraft being modified in India.
The Indian Air Force is looking for SAFDS that are light-weight with a “strap-on” capability so that one system can be deployed on more than one particular helicopter airframe. These will be ruggedised, have day-night and all-weather operation capability and function effectively in all phases of flight like take-off, climb, cruise, hover, descent and landing.
Apart from the Indian Air Force, the Army and the Border Security Force are also evaluating ground-based SAFDS for deployment along the Line of Control and some stretches of the International Border that have witnessed regular ceasefire violations.
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