In the middle of the ongoing military standoff with China along the eastern sector, Indian Air Force (IAF) Flight Lieutenant Tejaswi Ranga Rao, a Weapon System Operator (WSO) in the Sukhoi-30 fleet, said on Tuesday that the pilots are ready for anything along the China border.
“Every fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force trains to be a part of a real operation, because that’s where we get to show what we’re made of. Our pilots in the eastern sector are ready to respond to any situation from their different bases. Flight Lieutenant Tejaswi Ranga Rao said at the forward base in Tejpur, Assam, “We are always ready for any tasks and challenges that come our way.”
The WSO, also called “wizzos,” are specialised officers who fly in the back cockpit of multirole Su-30 fighter planes and control the sensors and weapons that will be fired at enemy targets by the plane.
In an interview, the officer talked about how he was involved in operations during the standoff with China. She told me, “What goes through our minds during hard times isn’t all that different from what we think every day, because we’re just putting into action what we do every day.
Another Su-30 fighter pilot, Flight Lieutenant Sakshya Bajpai, talked about flying during the recent joint Army-Air Force operations. He said that these operations better prepare pilots for real operations.
“The training missions help us get to know each other and prepare us for any situation, so we can live up to our motto, “Touch the Sky with Glory.” “Bajpai said. But, he said, it was hard to fly fighter jets in the hilly, densely forested eastern parts of the country because the weather and terrain were hard to predict.
Flight Lieutenant Ranga added, “We get a lot of training and practise in this area, which helps us get ready for any challenge that may come our way.”
As pilots of the ALH Mark 3 helicopters, Flight Lieutenants Ani Awasthi and A Nain, along with Flt Lt Ranga, fly a lot over the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh sectors for air maintenance and to help the troops who are stationed there.
All along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the forces are on high alert because India and China have been in a military standoff along the northern border in Ladakh for the past two years.
To keep the enemy in check, the Indian Air Force has been flying a lot in the area. The Su-30 MKI fighter and one squadron of Rafale jets in Hashimara, West Bengal, have been the most important parts of the force in the area.
