Deesa: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Gujarat, laid the foundation stone for a new strategic air base at Deesa in Banaskantha district of north Gujarat near the India-Pakistan border on Wednesday. He also inaugurated the Defense Expo during his visit. The airfield is said to be of strategic importance and will reduce the gap of 355 Kms between the Air Force station in Bhuj and Uttarlai.
Its location near the India-Pakistan border increases the strategic importance even more. Spread over an area of 4519 acres, Deesa Airfield is just 130 km away from the border with Pakistan . Once ready, the airfield will enable strategic operations on the western border of the country. Besides, the airfield will also ensure security of metropolitan and economic centers like Vadodara and Ahmedabad.
Also read: Modi inaugurates Defence Expo 2022 in Gandhinagar
In the first phase of the construction, the runway, road and taxi track will be constructed. The airfield when completed will have enough space to accommodate 62 aircrafts at once. The project is expected to be completed on fast track mode in 21 months. At the Defence Expo in Gujarat, the 12th edition of the event that has been organised on the theme 'Path to Pride', PM Modi unveiled HTT-40 - the indigenous trainer aircraft designed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the aircraft has state of art systems and has been designed with pilot-friendly features. During the programme, Prime Minister also launched Mission DefSpace - to develop innovative solutions for the Defence Forces in the Space domain through industry and startups.
At the inauguration ceremony, PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of 52 Wing Air Force Station Deesa. This year's DefExpo is the first-ever edition exclusively for Indian companies. Indian companies, Indian subsidiaries of Foreign OEMs, Division of a company registered in India, and Exhibitor having a joint venture with an Indian company will be considered as Indian participants.
