Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (February 14, 2026) made a high-profile landing from an Indian Air Force C-130J aircraft at the Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) on the National Highway at Moran in Dibrugarh district of Assam. After this landing of PM Modi, the Indian Air Force has also landed its fighter planes like Rafale, Sukhoi on the ELF built near the China border.
The construction of this ELF, which will increase the strength of the Air Force in Moran, has been termed by strategic experts as a sign of an important change in India’s air power doctrine. He said that this is the result of the lessons learned from Operation Sindoor in Pakistan.
28 in the country elf Being developed: Chelani
Strategic expert Dr. Brahma Chellani said that this airstrip built on Moran National Highway is one of the 28 Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) being built across the country. The main objective of which is to ensure that even if the enemy targets the major airbase of the Indian Air Force in the event of a war, the Air Force can continue its operations.
Modi’s high-profile landing on a national highway in Moran, Assam — one of 28 Emergency Landing Facilities (ELFs) being built across India — highlights a quiet but consequential shift in India’s airpower doctrine: the creation of real operational redundancy. The aim is to ensure…
—Dr. Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) February 14, 2026
He said that this strategy is based on a basic principle of air war, according to which, whenever an air attack is launched, usually the enemy’s air defenses and airfields are targeted first. In such a situation, if ever the Air Force airbases are damaged, then runways and operational bases become very important as a second option.
What did experts say about Operation Sindoor??
Referring to Operation Sindoor in Pakistan, Dr. Chellani said that the Indian Air Force had limited its attacks only to terrorist targets due to political instructions received during Operation Sindoor. Which was later acknowledged by the country’s Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) that the initial damage to the aircraft was a strategic mistake, which was rectified on the third and last day of the conflict after getting permission from the government to attack enemy air defenses and airbases.
He said that these road-runways being developed all over India are giving new strength to India’s defense preparedness. These facilities are being built near strategically important border areas, coastal areas and sensitive places. They are constructed from particularly strong concrete, which can withstand the heat of the afterburners of transport aircraft and fighter jets weighing up to 74 tonnes.
Apart from this, he said that these ELFs are also provided with facilities like basic air traffic control system and parking apron, due to which they can function as fully useful temporary airstrips despite limited resources.
