According to a report by Hindustan Times, Livemint's sister publication, Squadron Leaders Parul Bhardwaj and Swati Rathore will fly Chinook helicopter units in the northern and eastern sectors near LAC, at a time when India and China are locked in a lingering border row.
Prior to this, Squadron Leaders Rathore and Bhardwaj were flying the Russian-origin Mi-17V5 helicopters before they were moved to CH-47F Chinook units based in Chandigarh and Mohanbari in Assam, respectively.
Both Bhardwaj and Rathore had accomplished feats on the Mi-17V5 transport helicopters they earlier flew.
Bhardwaj captained the Mi-17V5’s maiden all-women flight in 2019, and two years later, Rathore became the first woman helicopter pilot to take part in the 2021 Republic Day flypast over Rajpath (now Kartavya Path), flying a Mi-17V5 in a four-helicopter formation.
Chinook chopper is imported from the US. India operates a fleet of 15 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters inducted in 2019-20. The cost of one Boeing-made helicopter is around ₹650 crore.
Chinook has been used extensively by IAF for moving artillery, battlefield resupply, and transportation of troops amid a border row with China that erupted on May 5, 2020 following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.
Besides, helipads, capable of operating Chinooks, are coming up in remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh for faster deployment of soldiers and weaponry to boost military capabilities in the sensitive sector.
Almost all forward posts guarding the frontier with China in Arunachal Pradesh will have at least one large helipad each for swift mobilisation of troops and military equipment using Chinook helicopters.
The government has been giving a major push to infrastructure development along the nearly 3,500 km long LAC following the eastern Ladakh faceoff that began in 2020.
The Army has deployed a significant number of easily transportable M-777 ultra-light howitzers in mountainous regions along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh.
The M-777 can be transported quickly in Chinook helicopters and the Army now has the flexibility of quickly moving them from one place to another based on operational requirements.
