Bengaluru: While India fights the second wave of the coronavirus with all its might, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy (IN) have intensified their efforts to aid the civil administration in tackling the current COVID19 situation. 

They have ferried oxygen containers and medical equipment. As on May 07, 2021, the C-17 aircraft of IAF have conducted 400 sorties from within the country, including 351 to airlift 252 oxygen tankers of total capacity of 4,904 Metric Tonnes (MT). The cities covered were Jamnagar, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Panagarh, Indore, Ranchi, Agra, Jodhpur, Begumpet, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Surat, Raipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Nagpur, Gwalior, Vijaywada, Baroda, Dimapur and Hindan, a statement from ministry of defence said. 

The statement added that the IAF aircraft also conducted 59 international sorties to airlift 72 cryogenic oxygen storage containers of 1,233 MT total capacity along with 1,252 empty oxygen cylinders. The containers and cylinders were procured from Singapore, Dubai, Bangkok, UK, Germany, Belgium and Australia. In addition, the C-17 and IL-76 aircraft have been tasked to airlift cryogenic oxygen containers, oxygen generators and ventilators from Israel and Singapore.

On the other hand, the Indian Navy deployed its ships INS Talwar, INS Kolkata, INS Airavat, INS Kochi, INS Tabar, INS Trikand, INS Jalashwa & INS Shardul to ferry oxygen containers/cylinders/concentrators and related equipment from friendly foreign countries. 

DRDO pitches in, builds hospitals, transfers oxygen technology: 

DRDO has used this technology to create 1000 litres of oxygen per minute which can be translated into civilian use. 

It is an indigenously built technology (specifically for India-manufactured aircraft) used to supply oxygen to the aircrew by supplying oxygen using bleed air from the engine and separating oxygen from other components, using a process called Pressure Swing Adsorption Technology. 

With this technology the pilot can remain airborne for a long time. Till this time, the pilots had to get to the ground, maybe an hour or so after they were airborne to refill oxygen.