The runway expansion, which will enable the airfield to handle fighter jets in future, is about 15% complete and likely to be finished in two years

The first landing of a fixed-wing aircraft at the Nyoma ALG took place on September 18, 2009, when an AN-32 transport aircraft landed there.

The Indian Air Force’s Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Nyoma, close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, has now been black-topped, while work is ongoing to extend the runway so that it can eventually handle fighter jets, according to defence sources.

“The work is about 15% complete and is now stopped due to winter. It will restart in April. It is on track to be completed in two years,” the source stated. Responding to apprehensions that the airfield could become an easy target for China as it is only 30 km away from the LAC, the source said that it was very well located and would prove to be a great advantage for India.

The first landing of a fixed-wing aircraft at the Nyoma ALG took place on September 18, 2009, when an AN-32 transport aircraft landed there. The runway is now being extended to 9,000 or 10,000 feet to enable it to handle all fighter aircraft in the IAF’s inventory.

‘Game-Changer’

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had laid the foundation stone for the ALG last September, exuding confidence that this airfield, which will be one of the world’s highest, would prove to be a “game-changer” for the armed forces. The ALG’s cost of development is approximately ₹200 crore.

Nyoma is about 180 km away from Leh at an altitude of about 13,700 feet, and lies close to the southern bank of the Pangong Tso.

The IAF also has airfields at Leh, Thoise and Kargil, as well as ALGs at Daulet Beg-Oldie and Fukche. However, the Leh and Thoise airfields are located in interior areas and officials with knowledge of the area said that the weather at Nyoma is much more stable in comparison to the other two airfields, enabling seamless operations.

Strategic Infrastructure

At the height of the standoff with Chinese forces in 2020, the IAF moved its Mi-17 medium-lift helicopters, CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, and AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to Nyoma to support the forward deployment of troops, as well as for surveillance and intelligence gathering purposes.

To overcome the challenges that fighter jets face in starting at high-altitude airfields, the engines are being tweaked to enable them to start at extremely low temperatures, which can plummet to -40 degrees in winter.

Over the last three years, China has upgraded all its airfields in this area and built new ones as part of its overall build-up along the 3,488 km-long LAC, permanently altering the status quo. Its infrastructure includes dual-use airfields, roads, accommodation for troops, and ammunition dumps, among others. India has also significantly scaled up its infrastructure and connectivity across the LAC, especially since the 2020 standoff, and hectic activity is now underway.