Army To Use Civilian Choppers For Logistic In Border Areas
India-US Army Yudh Abhyas in September, 2023.
Army Inks Pacts With Civilian Helicopters For Logistic Support
By Sanjay Singh
New Delhi, October 15: For the first time ever, Indian Army has inked its first-of-a-kind contract with civilian helicopters for logistic support in border areas during the upcoming winter season.
According to reports, this contract is focused on providing helicopter support to the Army’s winter cut-off posts along the Northern and Western borders. This is aimed at bolstering logistics support to remote forward posts, where civilian helicopters, like public sector owned (Pawan Hans) and private choppers, instead of the Indian Army’s own aviation or Indian Air Force assets.
The helicopters will ferry food, fuel, medical supplies, and other essential items, ensuring that these high-altitude positions remain fully operational and well-supplied during winter.
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The contract, with civilian choppers is for a period of one year that will ensure that 16 remote posts in the Jammu region are sustained throughout the year, while another 28 posts in Kashmir and Ladakh will benefit from this support for 150 days next year.
This shift is not just about reducing costs but a strategic move to preserve the service life of military helicopters for more critical roles in combat or emergency scenarios. By leveraging civil aviation for routine logistics tasks, the Army ensures that its combat aviation fleet remains ready for more mission-critical operations.
The helicopters, provided under the contract, will operate from seven mounting bases in Ladakh, two in Kashmir, and one in the Jammu region, covering a total of 44 posts. This step is seen as a decisive shift in how the Indian Army maintains its critical positions in high-altitude regions during the harsh winter months when these areas are otherwise inaccessible due to snow.
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The step is seen as an example of civil-military fusion and leveraging the PM Gati Shakti initiative launched in October 2021 for providing multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various economic zones. The mounting bases have come up under the Border Area Development and PM Gati Shakti’s infrastructural development push, which focuses on building an integrated and efficient logistics network across India’s borders.
The contract’s terms specify that the civil aviation service provider will manage the entire load-carrying effort required to sustain these winter cut-off posts.
The use of civil aviation in border regions opens up new opportunities for tourism and local economic development, which were previously unthinkable due to the lack of infrastructure.
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This will bring the same logistical efficiency and developmental potential to these high-altitude regions, which remain critical to India’s national security framework. Furthermore, this initiative has the potential to unlock the region’s tourism prospects.
Civil helicopters operating in these remote areas could provide the necessary infrastructure and accessibility for tourists to explore India’s breathtaking but challenging frontier regions. This aligns with the government’s long-term vision of encouraging tourism as a driver for economic growth, particularly in underdeveloped areas.
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