World's highest fighter airfield's runway "Nyoma" along LAC set for completion in October

New Delhi April 16: India is set to complete a 2.7-km runway at Nyoma airbase in Ladakh by October 2024. It is considered as one of the most significant ongoing projects near the contested border with China that will give the country’s infrastructure push along its farthest frontiers a shot in the arm.

Notably, this project comes against the backdrop of a military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China that began almost four years ago after the Galwan Valley violent clash.

“We have been working in shifts to speed up the project. Despite the difficult processes involved and the terrain, BRO has been able to mobilise its resources in time to ensure that the strategic capability is available to the Indian Air Force at the earliest. It will give the air force a basket of options,” Border Roads Organisation (BRO) chief Lieutenant General Raghu Srinivasan said.

Strategic Nyoma

Nyoma is on the southern shores of Pangong Tso and holds immense strategic importance due to its proximity to the 3,488 Km stretch of the LAC.

The Rs 218-crore project, the foundation stone for which was laid by defence minister Rajnath Singh last September, is spearheaded by a crew of BRO women officers. Colonel Ponung Doming, a woman combat engineer, is heading the project being executed at a height of 13,700 feet and 23km from LAC.

This Nyoma airfield will not only enable the seamless operation of heavier transport aircraft but also pave the way for the deployment of fighter jets, including the MiG-29 and Su-30 MKI. The new runway will bring these formidable aircraft much closer to the LAC, enhancing India's defensive posture in the region. The aim is to provide essential support to troops stationed in forward areas, conducting surveillance operations, and gathering crucial intelligence.

The Nyoma airstrip, was out of use since the 1962 India-China war, but revived by the IAF in September 2009. The IAF has since deployed various aircraft, including the C-130J special operations aircraft, AN-32s, and helicopters, from Nyoma to support military operations along the LAC.

BRO, which is at the centre of the India’s border infrastructure push, has completed 330 infrastructure projects at a cost of Rs 8,737 crore in the last three years, and significantly improved the strategic mobility of the Indian armed forces along the contested border with China.