Press Trust of India,
Three years after exercises with major world Air Forces, the Indian Air Force today announced “going slow” on joint combat manouevres citing “overexposure” and “monetary constraints” as reasons.
“Henceforth we plan to have combat exercises with foreign Air Forces once in a three year cycle”, Air Vice Marshal Sumit Mukherjee, Assistant Chief of Air Staff said here.
Coming fall, the IAF would be engaging in Air wargames for the first time with the Royal Air Force over Gwalior air base, he said.
Admitting that combat air exercises with US, French and Singapore air forces had been an “immense learning exercises for the IAF pilots”, Mukherjee said henceforth IAF would be planning to hold one exercise with a foreign player in India and another outside the country in a calender year.
With United States with which the Indian Air Force has held the largest number of joint exercises, he said that the recent meeting of the Joint steering group had decided to hold Fighter exercises, manouevres involving transport planes and war games with helicopter gunships and utility choppers alternatively each year.
“Though the joint manouevres have proved a boon for IAF and given our pilots immense exposure, high costs involved in hosting and going for such exercises outside are a dampener”, he said.
“We will always be open to new players”, Mukherjee said adding the first-ever air combat exercises with the Royal Air Force would involve IAF's Mirages, Sukhoi's, MiG-29 and upgraded MiG 21 Bisons taking on the RAF's Tornado fighters. The British Air Force would also be fielding a P3D Awacs and two Vc 10 mid air tankers. The joint exercises would be held from October 2 to 13 when the IAF would be commencing the Platnium Jubilee celebrations of its formation.
On holding of the joint exercises at Gwalior air base, Mukherjee said that IAF had decided henceforth to alternate holding of fighter exercises with foreign air forces alternatively between Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and Kalaikunda in West Bengal.
Air Vice Marshal Mukherjee, who is the Commodore Commandant of the IAF ace TAC-D, the force's tactics and combat development establishment, said the IAF was very keen to participate in exercises in the US Air Force's prestigious Red Flag Tactics Development Centre in the Nevada desert.
“We have sent the feelers. But dissimilarities in Air Combat instrumentation is proving a stumbling block. We hope to be invited very soon”, he said.
Mukherjee also said the IAF would be sending its Mirage 2000 and Jaguar deep penetration strike aircraft to Singapore in December for joint exercises.
The Air Vice Marshal made it cleat that shifting of the ceremony from Palam to Hindon would not entail shifting of the VVIP communication squadron from the Palam. VVIP squadron comprising Boeing 737 and new Embraer executive jets is used to ferry VVIP's including President and the Prime Minister.
Mukherjee also said that recently IAF had allowed the Pune airbase to be converted into an International Air port and on a similar request from the Punjab Government the force had offered its Halwara airbase near Ludhiana for conversion into an international airport.
