India Unveils Moran ELF: Northeast's First Emergency Airstrip Boosts China Contingency

• PM Modi inaugurated India's first Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) in the northeast on a 4.2-km stretch of Moran bypass on NH-37, landing in a C-130J.
• Built at Rs 100 crore, the Moran ELF is a dual-use facility for military and civilian aircraft, serving as an alternative to Dibrugarh airport and aiding HADR operations.
• Strategically vital, the ELF enhances India's defense infrastructure in the northeast, providing alternative landing sites near multiple Chinese airbases.
• The facility can handle frontline fighter jets like Rafale and Sukhoi, transport aircraft, and helicopters, with rapid refuelling and rearming capabilities.
• This initiative addresses vulnerabilities from the 1962 China-India war, strengthening emergency preparedness and distributed air power in the region.