Is The Indian Air Force Base At Deesa Being Built For Reliance Refinery?

¡°Why are we wasting public money for the benefit of private industry?¡± A friend called and asked, without a Hi or Hello.

¡°We?¡± I asked surprised, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

¡°You don¡¯t know? An ex-Air Force officer, plus an author, and you don¡¯t know?¡± He shouted with a mixture of sarcasm and indignation.

That¡¯s how friends are!

¡°Calm down, calm down,¡± I said. ¡°What happened?¡±

¡°I¡¯m sending you a link. Read it and tell me about it!¡± He thundered.

I have many friends who have the tendency to worry about any and everything that happens in the country, and indeed in the entire world. And he is the champion among them.

He probably receives 500 forwards a day, reads 100, instantly believes all of them, and further forwards all 500 to more of his ilk.

I have seen him forever seething at someone or something. Fair is his ire, for he directs it at everyone. He¡¯s raging at Russia for attacking Ukraine and he¡¯s upset at the US for not supporting Ukraine. Like any social media ¡®expert,¡¯ he¡¯s always brimming with strong convictions, and expresses his opinions unhesitatingly, often using untraceable nicknames, of course.

He is what I call a WhatsApp Warrior, Facebook Fascist and Twitter Terror, all rolled into one!

Within a minute, he sent me a link from an international portal which openly states that the Indian government, in collusion with the IAF, is spending thousands of crores to build an airfield at Deesa to protect Reliance Industries¡¯ petrochemical refinery complex.

I am no blind bhakt. In fact, like a true soldier, I am completely apolitical, but when someone questions the IAF, my IAF, I must rise in defence and clarify things.

So let¡¯s see how valid is the claim. Please see the map. It shows the bases in Southern Command of the Pakistan Air Force in Sindh.

google map

There were five bases earlier, and the PAF inaugurated a new base at Bholari in 2017. In December 2020, the Chinese Air Force carried out joint air exercises with the PAF from there.

google map

Facing them on our side of the border are the bases of the Indian Air Force¡¯s South Western Air Command in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

google map

At first glance, what do you see?

google map

An enormous gap in our defences, right?

A 400-kilometre-wide gap through which hostile airplanes could sneak in during war and peace. We could place radars to watch the gap, but we cannot intercept and punish the intruders.

That¡¯s akin to having a fence without an armed guard watching it. Anyone with a wire cutter will get through in minutes.

That is why we need an air base with fighter aircraft there, to plug this gap.

google map

Once ready and operational, it will not only deter intrusion but will also keep the other side worried about our strikes from Deesa.

As military history has repeatedly proved, ¡®Offence is the best defence.¡¯

I have served five tenures in that area, two in Bhuj (which inspired me to write the hilarious movie review titled ¡®Bhuj - The Pride Of India¡¯ Is But A Ride Of Hysteria!) plus one each in Uttarlai, Naliya and Jamnagar. I know that area intimately and am aware of the strategic and tactical Air Defence nightmare this gap presents.

I was posted at Jamnagar in 1983, and that was when we first heard about the Deesa airport coming up, ¡®soon.¡¯ As with most sarkari projects, we did expect some delay, like the LCA or Light Combat Aircraft, which got so delayed, that some called it Late Combat Aircraft! But nobody expected Deesa air base to take 40 years!

Also, Reliance refinery is barely 20 kilometres, that¡¯s 2 minutes flying, from the IAF base at Jamnagar. So, imagining that they are constructing the Deesa base 300 kilometres away to protect the refinery, is far-fetched.

google map

And before anyone argues that the IAF built the base at Jamnagar for the refinery, let me assure you, the airport has been in use by IAF since 1951, and the refinery came up only around the year 2000.

I rest my case.

Now I¡¯ll call and convince my friend, the WhatsApp Warrior!

The writer is a former fighter pilot of the IAF and is now a commercial airline pilot. He is the author of three books and many blog posts, available at www.avinashchikte.com