What is an Air Defence Identification Zone?
- It is a zone which provides an early warning system to help a country detect possible incursions into its sovereign airspace. When an aircraft enters an ADIZ without warning, the country in question may scramble fighter jets to visually identify the aircraft and determine whether it poses a threat
- In other words, ADIZ is airspace over land or water in which the identification, location, and control of civil aircraft are performed in the interest of national security.
- The first ADIZ was established by the United States in 1950 when it created a joint North American ADIZ with Canada, citing the legal right of a nation to establish reasonable conditions of entry into its territory
- The concept of an ADIZ is not defined in any international treaty and is not regulated by any international body
Air Defence Identification Zone in India
- India established ADIZs in the mid-twentieth century. Among other rules, notifications are required 10 minutes prior to entry.
- India has demarcated six ADIZ near its territory. They are the international border with Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Myanmar, Over the Line of Actual Control with China and two in the southern region of India.
Who is responsible for enforcement of ADIZ?
- Military enforcement of ADIZs is solely the responsibility of the Indian Air Force and the task is executed through a chain of radars as well.
- Aircraft and surface-to-air missiles of the IAF, with elements of the Army and the Navy participating in their specific areas, where required, carry out interceptions.
- Civil aviation authorities, in conjunction with the IAF, also assist in this process by ensuring regulatory and control measures, such as the assignment of Air Defence Clearance (ADC) numbers to aircraft entering or operating in Indian air space and by confirming the ADC of the incoming traffic, where necessary
