IAF's Fleet Of Heavy-Lift Aircraft Complete Over A Thousand Sorties To Support National Efforts Against COVID-19

In a bid to bolster the national capacity to cope against the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, the Indian Air Force (IAF)’s heavy-lift aircraft like C-17 Globemaster-III and Ilyushin-76 have now performed over thousand sorties to transport cryogenic containers and medical equipment from abroad, as well as within the country, reports Times of India.

It should be noted that the figure does not even include the numerous sorties undertaken by IAF’s medium-lift transport aircraft like C-130J Super Hercules and Antonov-32.

As per a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence, of the 1,000 heavy-lift sorties conducted by IAF, 161 were sorties from abroad. IAF has so far air-lifted over 120 containers with a total capacity of over 1,000 metric tonnes of oxygen and a load of over 500 metric tonnes of medical equipment from countries like France, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Indonesia, Thailand, Dubai, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Israel and the United Kingdom.

The IAF has been playing a major role in helping the nation plug the gaps in the supply chain and logistics involved in the movement of medical oxygen.