India eyes dual use infra on air, roads, rail to support combat

For long it has been talked of in relevant official circles but very soon the integration of all civil infrastructure with military combat needs on land, air and space may be a distinct possibility and be a part of the declared policy, writes senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi: Fighter aircraft operating from state highways, rail wagons capable of carrying all military equipment and hardware, all satellites with military objectives, all these may soon be a part of declared government policy.

The effort may have unfolded on May 21, 2015, when a lone Mirage 2000 aircraft landed on the Yamuna Expressway to test the feasibility of using state highways for landing and taking off air fighters which will be a definite force multiplier in times of war.

A slew of such operations followed. In November 2017, three Mirage 2000 and three Sukhoi fighters touched down on the Expressway.

Then on October 24, 2017, an entire range of IAF aircraft comprising three deep penetration Jaguars, 12 multi-role air superiority Mirage 2000s and Sukhoi-30 and a C-130J Super Hercules airlifter taking part in a drill to touchdown and take off on a 3-km-long stretch of the six-lane Agra-Lucknow Expressway underscoring skill and capability besides demonstration of military preparedness in times of war and other emergencies.

Such 'airstrips' assume critical value as airports figure on the top of the enemy’s bombing targets during the war. Many Western nations use their highways as alternate landing strips while India’s neighbours China and Pakistan have landed their fighter jets on their roads many years ago.

Pakistan, for instance, landed its first fighter aircraft in Islamabad-Lahore about 17 years ago. The Islamabad-Lahore highway is equipped with four emergency sections of nearly three km each which become fully functional runway strips by removing temporary concrete blocks.

In a significant address at the Vivekananda India Foundation, a leading think-tank, in the national capital on Wednesday, India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat gave a glimpse of the roadmap the government may be mulling—and some of them are indeed far-reaching changes.

As the ‘first among equals' among the chiefs of the three services of the armed forces as well as his proximity to the security establishment, what the CDS said may well be the point of view of the government and the general direction of policy.

Gen Rawat said, “The contracting envelope of the defence budget makes it imperative to create a dual-use infrastructure through civil-military fusion. We must examine the feasibility of integrating civil-military airports to strengthen aviation safety, airspace management and combat support capabilities.”

“Satellites for remote sensing and reconnaissance, communications, positioning and navigation must also meet requirements of the armed forces with desired in built encryptions.”

“Railway wagons and civil truck trailers must be manufactured for dual-use capable of transporting heavy military equipment including Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs).”

Why the effort may indeed be a paradigm change for India’s infrastructure development is the fact that there will have to be an erection of an entire range of allied architecture to support the civil-military infrastructure integration effort.

“Construction of communication towers and electricity infrastructure along with rail, roads, bridges and tunnels in border states must be of specifications that facilitate utilisation by the armed forces as well.”

“We must look at civil-military convergence on storage and warehousing facilities for fuel, oil, lubricants (FOL), rations and ordnance supplies.”