http://www.indianexpress.com/story/10417.html
For safer skies, entire Indian airspace comes on IAF radar
Pranab Dhal Samanta Posted online: Saturday, August 12, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print  Email
 
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11:For the first time in the country, all civilian aircraft, including domestic flights, operating anywhere in Indian airspace will now be monitored by Air Force radars.

With the IAF upgrading its radar network to cover the entire country up to 12 nautical miles into the sea, a decision has been taken to ensure that all civilian aircraft have “air defence clearance” regardless of where they are flying in the country.

The IAF conveyed this to the Civil Aviation Ministry a day before the British police announced that they had foiled an “unimaginable” air terror attack.

The Ministry is now expected to notify all airlines soon of the changes.

Sources told The Indian Express that the Air Force has extended radar coverage to Central India and even the Andamans & Nicobar Islands. These areas were not covered by Air Force radars until now.

The important element here is that all civilian aircraft operating anywhere in Indian airspace will be allotted an “Air Defence Code” by IAF controllers which will be a kind of a mandatory password for them to access other aviation services.

Until now, this practice was restricted largely to border areas and over key defence airfields and installations.

It’s learnt that the IAF has enhanced its network by adding new radars in Central India, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and along the coast. This has given the force the capability to monitor all civilian aircraft in Indian airspace.

To implement this effectively, the IAF will need necessary integration with radar network operated by Airports Authority of India.

The AAI already covers the entire country through a network of secondary radars that function only when the aircraft switches on its transponder. But that is the first thing to be turned off in case a plane is taken over by rogue elements.

Primary radars, the ones with the IAF, are not dependent on any aircraft borne equipment or transponder making them vital to aviation security.

The security review conducted after 9/11 had recommended that the entire airspace must be monitored by primary radars which must be brought into the loop of secondary radars used by civil air traffic control.

‘‘The situation may not be so bad as long as all air traffic is legitimate, friendly and operated as per rules. But rules will be broken. A rogue aircraft may switch off its transponder or intentionally get down below the line of sight of the secondary surveillance radars. In this case, we will not have any pick-up on such an aircraft,’’ said the report.

Sources said the decision now is that no aircraft will be considered legitimate until it has obtained an Air Defence Code. IAF has created Air Defence Identification Zones and an aircraft moving from one zone to the other will get fresh codes.

This step is also in line with the new anti-hijack policy that empowers the government to even shoot down an aircraft in case it has been taken over by rogue elements intending to use it as a missile like in the 9/11 attacks.