More...
Published: 4:37pm, 28 Jan, 2023 Updated: 4:43pm, 28 Jan, 2023
The crash is the latest in a string of aviation accidents involving India’s military air fleet.
Five army soldiers were killed last October when their helicopter crashed in Arunachal Pradesh state, near the country’s militarised and disputed border with China.
It was the second military chopper crash in the state that month, coming weeks after a Cheetah helicopter came down near the town of Tawang, killing its pilot.
India’s defence chief, General Bipin Rawat, was among 13 people killed when his Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter crashed while transporting him to an air force base in December 2021.
In 2016, in one of the worst ever air accidents, a Russian-made medium lift transporter flying to Andaman Nicobar Island from Chennai crashed into the Bay of Bengal killing all 29 persons on board. And in 2019, another 13 people were killed when another AN-32 craft crashed in Arunachal Pradesh.
Its military establishment is fretting over a growing assertiveness by China along its vast Himalayan frontier, which in 2019 sparked a lingering diplomatic freeze after a deadly high-altitude confrontation between troops of both countries.
India unveiled its first locally built aircraft carrier last year as part of government efforts to build an indigenous defence industry and reduce reliance on Russia, historically its most important arms supplier.
An effort to reform military recruitment to trim down India’s bloated defence payroll stalled last year after a backlash from aspiring soldiers, who burned train carriages and clashed with police in fierce protests.
Two Indian military jets crash, one pilot killed
- Both aircraft were on a routine operational flying training mission from the Gwalior airbase about 50km from where they came down
- The planes were a Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30, carrying two pilots, and a French-built Mirage 2000, operated by a third
Published: 4:37pm, 28 Jan, 2023 Updated: 4:43pm, 28 Jan, 2023
The crash is the latest in a string of aviation accidents involving India’s military air fleet.
Five army soldiers were killed last October when their helicopter crashed in Arunachal Pradesh state, near the country’s militarised and disputed border with China.
It was the second military chopper crash in the state that month, coming weeks after a Cheetah helicopter came down near the town of Tawang, killing its pilot.
India’s defence chief, General Bipin Rawat, was among 13 people killed when his Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter crashed while transporting him to an air force base in December 2021.
In 2016, in one of the worst ever air accidents, a Russian-made medium lift transporter flying to Andaman Nicobar Island from Chennai crashed into the Bay of Bengal killing all 29 persons on board. And in 2019, another 13 people were killed when another AN-32 craft crashed in Arunachal Pradesh.
Its military establishment is fretting over a growing assertiveness by China along its vast Himalayan frontier, which in 2019 sparked a lingering diplomatic freeze after a deadly high-altitude confrontation between troops of both countries.
India unveiled its first locally built aircraft carrier last year as part of government efforts to build an indigenous defence industry and reduce reliance on Russia, historically its most important arms supplier.
An effort to reform military recruitment to trim down India’s bloated defence payroll stalled last year after a backlash from aspiring soldiers, who burned train carriages and clashed with police in fierce protests.
