rkjindal91
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NEW DELHI: IAF may have ejected US fighters from its $10.4-billion project to acquire 126 jets, but is eager for its fighter pilots to match their combat skills with American top guns.
The air force has taken the initiative to take part in the "mother" of all air combat exercises, the Red Flag, held at Nellis US Air Force base in Nevada.
"We will participate in Red Flag in 2013. Since such exercises are very expensive, we have decided to undertake them only once in five years", says IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik. The only time IAF has participated in Red Flag was in 2008, with eight frontline Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, two IL-78 mid-air refuellers, an IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft, 91 officers and 156 other ranks.
The bill for the complex aerial combat manoeuvres, touted to be the closest one can get to real war, had come to over Rs 100 crore three years ago.
"The Americans were surprised by our pilots, who flew as many as 356 sorties during Red Flag, and were full of praise for them. The exercise established IAF's capability to project its air power by deploying a trans-continental task force and sustaining prolonged operations there," said another officer. "The US had wanted Indian participation in Red Flag, which trains pilots 'to survive in war and win' in an advanced network-centric environment, to become a regular feature. We, however, have financial constraints," he added.
But the fact remains that the stunning flurry of Indo-US military exercises, with well over 60 such joint war games being held over the last decade to build "interoperability", has been the most visible symbol of the upward trajectory in strategic ties between the two countries.
The air force has taken the initiative to take part in the "mother" of all air combat exercises, the Red Flag, held at Nellis US Air Force base in Nevada.
"We will participate in Red Flag in 2013. Since such exercises are very expensive, we have decided to undertake them only once in five years", says IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik. The only time IAF has participated in Red Flag was in 2008, with eight frontline Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, two IL-78 mid-air refuellers, an IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft, 91 officers and 156 other ranks.
The bill for the complex aerial combat manoeuvres, touted to be the closest one can get to real war, had come to over Rs 100 crore three years ago.
"The Americans were surprised by our pilots, who flew as many as 356 sorties during Red Flag, and were full of praise for them. The exercise established IAF's capability to project its air power by deploying a trans-continental task force and sustaining prolonged operations there," said another officer. "The US had wanted Indian participation in Red Flag, which trains pilots 'to survive in war and win' in an advanced network-centric environment, to become a regular feature. We, however, have financial constraints," he added.
But the fact remains that the stunning flurry of Indo-US military exercises, with well over 60 such joint war games being held over the last decade to build "interoperability", has been the most visible symbol of the upward trajectory in strategic ties between the two countries.
@Auz i hope you will like it 
