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IAF-USAF rematch in American skies
Rajat Pandit
[ 15 Mar, 2007 0018hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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NEW DELHI: After proving more than a match for American, French, British and other pilots in wargames over the last few years, IAF fighter pilots will now face the biggest test of them all ââ¬â the famous American Red Flag aerial combat exercise.
Held at Nellis US Air Force base in Nevada, northwest of Las Vegas, the Red Flag exercise is considered to be the closest one can get to real air combat situations. And, as such, will test the combat skills of IAF pilots like never before.
"We will be going for Red Flag, the world's ultimate exercise, around August 2008. The Americans have expressed their keen interest in us going there with our latest Sukhoi-30MKI fighters... we probably will not disappoint them," said a senior IAF officer.
Added another officer, "Our fighter pilots are among the best in the world. We may not be as used to advanced BVR (beyond-visual range) combat or operating in an AWACS (airborne warning control and warning systems) environment as USAF but we are getting there."
As a precursor to the actual participation in Red Flag with six fighters, two transport aircraft and an IL-78 mid-air refuelling aircraft, IAF will be sending "observers" to the exercise this year to work out the logistics and modalities.
It was at Gwalior in February 2004 that IAF pilots flying Sukhois and other jets had crossed swords with USAF pilots in their F-15C fighters in the "Cope India" dissimilar air combat training exercise, the first such wargames between the two forces since 1963.
And, in what had come as a huge shock to USAF pilots, IAF pilots had more or less outgunned them in the skies, recording most of the "kills" in direct air combat.
A few months after that, IAF pilots flew Jaguar strike fighters all the way to Alaska to participate in the multinational Cope-Thunder exercise there.
Then, in November 2005, despite objections from Left parties like CPM and CPI, the next Cope India exercise at Kalaikunda in West Bengal saw IAF fighters take on the American F-16s.
"We have also flown our fighters, with a single hop, to France for a joint exercise there. So, flying for extended ranges is no longer an issue with our mid-air refuelling capabilities. We can easily fly to US for Red Flag," said an officer.
India and US, incidentally, have held well over 40 joint military exercises in the last five years to enhance "functional interoperability" between the two armed forces.
Though largely unstated, the aim is to develop capabilities to undertake joint operations against a common enemy if the need arises in the future.
The expansive 10-year Indo-US defence framework signed in June 2005, in fact, talks about collaboration in "multinational operations" and enhancing "capabilities to combat WMD proliferation" across the world.
rajat.pandit@timesgroup.com
http://news.google.co.in/news/url?sa=t .
Rajat Pandit
[ 15 Mar, 2007 0018hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
NEW DELHI: After proving more than a match for American, French, British and other pilots in wargames over the last few years, IAF fighter pilots will now face the biggest test of them all ââ¬â the famous American Red Flag aerial combat exercise.
Held at Nellis US Air Force base in Nevada, northwest of Las Vegas, the Red Flag exercise is considered to be the closest one can get to real air combat situations. And, as such, will test the combat skills of IAF pilots like never before.
"We will be going for Red Flag, the world's ultimate exercise, around August 2008. The Americans have expressed their keen interest in us going there with our latest Sukhoi-30MKI fighters... we probably will not disappoint them," said a senior IAF officer.
Added another officer, "Our fighter pilots are among the best in the world. We may not be as used to advanced BVR (beyond-visual range) combat or operating in an AWACS (airborne warning control and warning systems) environment as USAF but we are getting there."
As a precursor to the actual participation in Red Flag with six fighters, two transport aircraft and an IL-78 mid-air refuelling aircraft, IAF will be sending "observers" to the exercise this year to work out the logistics and modalities.
It was at Gwalior in February 2004 that IAF pilots flying Sukhois and other jets had crossed swords with USAF pilots in their F-15C fighters in the "Cope India" dissimilar air combat training exercise, the first such wargames between the two forces since 1963.
And, in what had come as a huge shock to USAF pilots, IAF pilots had more or less outgunned them in the skies, recording most of the "kills" in direct air combat.
A few months after that, IAF pilots flew Jaguar strike fighters all the way to Alaska to participate in the multinational Cope-Thunder exercise there.
Then, in November 2005, despite objections from Left parties like CPM and CPI, the next Cope India exercise at Kalaikunda in West Bengal saw IAF fighters take on the American F-16s.
"We have also flown our fighters, with a single hop, to France for a joint exercise there. So, flying for extended ranges is no longer an issue with our mid-air refuelling capabilities. We can easily fly to US for Red Flag," said an officer.
India and US, incidentally, have held well over 40 joint military exercises in the last five years to enhance "functional interoperability" between the two armed forces.
Though largely unstated, the aim is to develop capabilities to undertake joint operations against a common enemy if the need arises in the future.
The expansive 10-year Indo-US defence framework signed in June 2005, in fact, talks about collaboration in "multinational operations" and enhancing "capabilities to combat WMD proliferation" across the world.
rajat.pandit@timesgroup.com
http://news.google.co.in/news/url?sa=t .
