New Delhi: Days after it was reported that Chinese troops had entered the border district of Chamoli in Uttarakhand, it has now come to the fore that ahead of its transgression the Chinese People's Liberation Army had conducted a reconnaissance mission using high class aircraft armed with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) which provides broad-area imaging at high resolutions.
PTI quoted official sources as saying that 'TupolovTu 153M' aircraft of Chinese PLA had carried out two to three sorties earlier this year in the middle sector falling in the areas of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Piecing together intelligence gathered from various sources in the aftermath of Barahoti transgression, officials in the know said that at least three sorties of the aircraft, which is designed by the Chinese companies on the basis of technology from the erstwhile USSR, was carried out in last three months.
The aircraft flies at an altitude of above 40,000 feet and can go up to 60,000 feet to avoid detection by radars and can click pictures and other cyber and communication signatures at that height.
It has an SAR which can provide high-resolution pictures even in inclement weather or in night time. The systems take advantage of the long-range propagation characteristics of radar signals and the complex information processing capability of modern digital electronics to provide high resolution imagery.
The information about the flight was shared during exchanges with foreign intelligence agencies, the sources said.
China's act in Uttarakhand a transgression not incursion: Parrikar
Meanwhile on July 30, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that the act of Chinese troops entering the border district of Chamoli was 'transgression' and not 'incursion'.
Rubbishing media reports, Parrikar had said, "It was actually a transgression and not incursion. Media used the word incursion, but actually it was transgression."
"I am happy that not a single bullet has been fired at the border from either side of India and China in last many years," he had added.
At least 20 to 25 Chinese troops had entered into the demilitarised area in Barahoti pastures in Chamoli district in July, besides flying its helicopters in the Indian air space for over five minutes.
The sources said that an Indian civilian team was sent back by Chinese People's Liberation Army troops, who claimed it to be their land and recognised it as 'Wu-Je'.
A Chinese helicopter hovered over the ground for nearly five minutes before returning to its side. The chopper was identified as Zhiba series of attack helicopter of the PLA.
(With Agency inputs)
