BENGALURU: The Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) airstrip in Eastern Ladakh is of great strategic importance for India vis a vis China. Nearly six decades ago, on July 23, 1962, the then Sqn Ldr, late AirMarshal C K S Raje, had landed a Fairchild Packet, C–119 G, fitted with an Orpheus engine as the Jet Pack at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), the highest airstrip in the world at about 16,600 feet.
“The Fairchild Packet was modified to fly at that height by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bengaluru,” said Air Marshal S R K Nair (Retd), who on Aug 20, 2013 had flown to DBO in the giant IAF transport aircraft, C130J Super Hercules with Air Cmde Tejbir Singh as the pilot, to “enhance airlift capacity to DBO for the Indian Army,” said the retired IAF officer.
DBO is adjacent to the Chip Chap river, and lies 8 km south and 9 km west of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), with China. “The air distance to the Karakoram Pass from DBO is just 10 km, which is why the airstrip is of immense strategic importance to the Army. It must be supported to the extent possible,” said AM Nair (R).
The DBO airstrip was not operational for more than 45 years after 1962. On May 31, 2008 one AN-32 (medium-lift tactical airlift aircraft) with two AI 20 D engines of 48 Sqn, landed at DBO at 0615 hrs with the then Group Capt S C Chafekar, CO of 48 Sqn, at the controls with the then Air Marshal PK Barbora, AOC-in-C Western Air Command, on board. “I was then commanding Air Force Station Chandigarh and was overhead DBO with a bird’s eye view of the landing,” he reminisced. AM Nair (R) added that subsequently, he flew AN32 in and out of DBO in 2008.
“I had landed the aircraft and recall the lack of power, sluggishness of controls at the extreme altitude and the very high ground speed of the aircraft. Landing and taking off were challenging. The whole aircraft operation is beyond the operating envelope of AN32,” recalled the veteran Air Force officer. Five years later, on August 20, 2013, the IAF landed its C-130J Super Hercules transport plane at the DBO with then Air Vice Marshal SRK Nair on board!“It was very important to enhance airlift capability to this airstrip because of its strategic location.
The landing of C 130J Super Hercules at DBO in 2013 was a huge step forward for the IAF and the Army. It is the last airfield we have in that strategically important region. The aircraft is very useful for the expeditious induction and extraction of troops and supplies,” he added.“DBO is at a height of 16,600 ft and the winter temperatures drop to -48 Celsius. The officers and jawans of the Army, besides a few nomads are the only habitants of this treacherous terrain, weathering hostile conditions, rarefied atmosphere and poor communication,” he said.
“DBO has a mud strip, where there is lose soil on top. For every landing, the local Army troops manually compress the mud with the roller. For binding the soil, they make use of used oil. The ride on the DBO runway surface is rather bumpy and bouncy,” said AM Nair (Retd).
Packets did fine only up to 14K ft
“Packet had two Wright Cyclone 3500 piston engines with severely reduced power at over 16,000 feet, the height of DBO. Some additional thrust was necessary to achieve what was then considered an impossible task. The Packets were able to do fine up to about 14,000 feet Above Mean Sea Level, but with height, power decreased. If DBO was to be supplied by landing an aircraft, the Packet needed some ‘boost’. So, the IAF decided to fit a J-34 jet engine on top the aircraft, with HAL ordered to do the modification. Soon it was found that the J-34 was not adequate for the mountains of Ladakh, so the Orpheus 701 jet engine, powering the HAL Gnat, was fitted. The first of the Jet Pack Packets was flown from Bengaluru to J&K for operational trials,” said Group Captain AG Bewoor (Retd).