J&K: MiG-29 fighter jets squadron deployed at Srinagar to counter enemy threat

India has deployed an upgraded MiG-29 fighter squadron at Srinagar Air Base to counter the front line threat from Pakistani and Chinese forces. The Trident Squadron, now known as the Defenders of the North, replaces the MiG-21 Squadron at Srinagar Air Base, which has always faced threats from Pakistan.

"Srinagar lies in the center of the Kashmir valley, and its elevation is higher than the plains. It is strategically better to place an aircraft with a higher weight-to-thrust ratio and less response time due to its proximity to the border and that is equipped with better avionics and long-range missiles. The MiG-29 fulfills all these criteria, due to which we are capable of taking in the enemies on both fronts," Indian Air Force pilot Squadron Leader Vipul Sharma told news agency ANI.

The MiG 29s enjoy various advantages over the MiG-21s, which had the option to effectively guard the area of their responsibility in the Kashmir valley for a long time and furthermore figured out how to strike down a F-16 in every 2019 post-Balakot air strike on Pakistani terrorist camps.

The MiG-29 has additionally been furnished with very long-range air-to-air missiles and air-to-ground weaponry after the updates and has likewise been equipped with deadly weaponry utilizing the crisis acquisition abilities given to military by the public authority.

"The fighter aircraft have also been provided with the capability to jam the enemy aircraft's capabilities during times of conflict", officials said.

Another pilot, Squadron Leader Shivam Rana, said the upgraded airplane can work in the evening with night vision goggles and has a more extended territory because of its aerial refueling capacity.

"We have also included the air-to-ground armament, which was not there earlier. The biggest capability of the aircraft is the pilots, who are handpicked by the Indian Air Force to serve on these aircraft," he said.

The MiG-29s moved to the Srinagar air base in January this year and have flown widely in the Kashmir valley alongside the Ladakh area where they would be one of the first to answer in the event of any air space infringement endeavors by the Chinese.

The MiG-29s were the primary airplane to have been conveyed in the Ladakh area for attaching the danger from the Chinese side after the Galwan conflict of 2020 and have impeded different such endeavors from that point forward.

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