Tinsukia: SU-30 fighters roared into the sky as the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a massive carpet bombing exercise at Dullong Mukh range in Assam on Thursday to check its striking capability.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, accompanied by Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, flew to the range to witness the drill carried out on extremely difficult terrain near Tezpur, close to Arunachal Pradesh border.

The exercise was part of a mega combat exercise, Gaganshakti-2018, launched by the air force last week to check its operational preparedness in dealing with all possible security challenges.

Gaganshakti 2018 is the IAF's biggest exercise since Operation Brasstacks (1986-1987) and involves over 1,100 fighter aircraft, helicopters and transport aircraft, apart from 300 officers and 1,500 airmen to imitate real time war scenario.

The defence minister landed at Chabua, the easternmost airbase guarding the Sino-Indian border, in Assam's Dibrugarh district at 11am. From there she flew to Pasighat in Arunachal in an MI-17 helicopter. At Pasighat advanced landing ground (ALG), two SU-30s took off and a C-130J (transport aircraft) landed as part of the drill. She was also briefed about the uploading of rockets in an MI-17-V5 gunship.

From Pasighat, the minister flew to Dalan Mukh, where SU30s dropped three 1,000-pound bombs and performed carpet bombing with 16 100-pound bombs and MI-17 gunships fired rockets as she watched from a tower, a source in the air force told The Telegraph.

He said a camera was placed at the bomb drop zone. Later, she returned to Chabua airbase where she witnessed loading of bombs on SU-30MKIs.

Speaking to reporters before she flew out of Chabua, Sitharaman said this was the biggest exercise in terms of "scale and extent" undertaken by the air force to test its preparedness.

She said the capacity of the air force and bombs developed by ordinance had been tested and were bang on target. Not a single bomb failed.

"Logistics and linking with fighter aircraft has been tested as part of the exercise to imitate war-time readiness, including movement of troops and warfare items, and reaching enemy territory," she said.

"The air force has acclaimed international pride with the exercise which showcased its power and muscle. The message is clear that we can reach the Northeast from Delhi or anywhere in just two hours - not just an aircraft, but loaded with commandos and heavy trucks," she said.

"The air force has shown excellence in moving troops in no time. The landing of C-130J, loaded with Garud commandos and heavy vehicles, at Pasighat ALG, gives us access to the remotest part of the Northeast," she said.

She spoke of expanding assets from the point of view of strategic and civil comfort. She said she would speak to Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu to extend airstrips so that civilian and larger aircraft can land with greater ease.

The Air Chief Marshal said, "We have shown our capability to operate SU-30 from a variety of bases, including ALG. Another aspect of this exercise is to provide aerial connectivity to the people of the region so that Boeing 737 and other flights from Calcutta can land here."