Major General Julian C Cheater, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of the US Air Force, International Affairs, at a press convention mentioned, “India is currently providing critical aid and supplies as part of Operation Dost. In the ongoing earthquake relief effort in the Republic of Turkey and Syria, it has used more than five of its C-17s to deliver more than 135 tonnes of specialised equipment and other relief material. This includes a field hospital, and search and rescue personnel. In addition, India has also used a C130J aircraft to transport more than six tonnes of much needed supplies to Syria.”
“As a side note India has the largest C-17 fleet outside the United States. It’s 11 C-17s regularly criss-cross around the world,” Cheater mentioned. The official gave these examples whereas speaking about India’s rising use of defence gear from the United States and different western companions, which he mentioned, has not solely strengthened India’s navy however has additionally elevated their interoperability.
Operation Dost is an ongoing search and rescue operation initiated by the Government of India to assist Syria and Turkey, after a violent earthquake devastated each international locations on 6 February 2023.
The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a big navy transport plane that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the Nineteen Eighties to the early Nineteen Nineties by McDonnell Douglas. American aerospace firm Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, continued to fabricate the C-17 for nearly twenty years.
The Indian Air Force additionally operates a fleet of 12 C-130Js made by American aerospace company Lockheed Martin, for its tactical airlift missions.
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Later within the day, at one other press convention, Timothy J German, Director, Global Pursuits, Lockheed Martin mentioned, “C130s are uniquely designed to go into locations where runways have been damaged. There are operators worldwide that are now sending C130s worldwide into Turkey, Syria to help humanitarian missions.”
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com