The Indian Air Force (IAF) will begin modernising its airfields at a cost of $260m to handle take-off and landing of its new aircraft fitted with sophisticated avionics.

The IAF will acquire six C130 J Hercules transport aircraft by the end of 2010 and 126 medium multirole combat aircraft to upgrade its fleet, according to The Hindu.

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The upgrades will include supply, testing, integration and sustenance of the instrument landing system (ILS) and the distance measurement equipment.

It will also include the tactical air navigation system, the air traffic management system and the CAT-2 airfield lighting system.

In the first phase, 30 airfields will be modernised in 42 months. 20 further airfields, including those of the IAF, the army, the navy and the coastguard, will be upgraded in the second phase.