Indian Airfield Modernization Awaits Cabinet Clearance

(Aviation Week) : The first phase of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) $260 million program to modernize 30 airfields has been delayed eight months as it awaits final approval from India’s Cabinet Committee on Security.
Bids for the Modernization of Airfields of India (MAFI) project were received in 2008, with Raytheon and Tata’s Power Strategic Electronics Division being selected. Cabinet approval is the final step before the contracts can be awarded.
The 30 airfields are to be modernized within three years of the contract signatures. The IAF wants the western sector to be given urgent attention, since its airfields are considered the most important, according to Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik. “Central and south Indian airfields can be done later,” he tells Aviation Week.
The airfields in the Western Air Command include Hindon, the base for India’s C-130Js; and Halwara, Jodhpur, Daulat Beg Oldi, Fukche and Nyama in eastern Ladakh. The northeast is also a major thrust area with 16 airfields along theChinese border. They include Chabua, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Mohanbari, Hasimara, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Ziro and Vijaynagar, as well as several helipads in the eastern state of Arunachal.
The Tezpur air base, from which Sukhois operate, was upgraded last year.
Under Phase 2 of MAFI, 21 airfields of the IAF, navy and coast guard will be modernized.