Out of 39 abandoned airfields, the Indian Air Force has identified 24 for operational use, such as deployment of long range vectors, radars, Weapon Storage Areas (WSAs) and emergency recovery strips for helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.
The Parliamentary Panel on Defense submitted its report on unused airfields this week. The Committee says, "work on these airfields should be started without further delay and also remaining 15 airfields be assessed for being used."
Former Commander in Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal A K Singh, says, "There are hundreds of airfields throughout India that were used during World War II and earlier. Even Americans have made a large number of airfields in India to go across the Himalayas and to traffic men and materials to China."
Meanwhile, by September this year, the construction of six Advance Landing Grounds will be completed in the north east region.
In 2015, a milestone was achieved in relation to military aircraft landing when the Mirage 2000 Aircraft had landed on Yamuna Expressway near the capital Delhi. According to the parliamentary panel report, more roads and stretches are being identified to facilitate the emergency landing of aircraft.