Indian AWACS, RAF Eurofighters at Exercise Indradhanush This Month!


Just received this from the Indian Air Force: Indo-UK Air Force Exercise Indradhanush will take place at Air Force Station Kalaikunda, in West Midinapur district, West Bengal from 18 Oct 2010 till 03 Nov 2010.

This would be for the first time when RAF (Royal Air Force) Typhoons would be seen in a joint operational scenario in India. The IAF would be participating in this exercise with the Su-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, MiG-27 and Phalcon AWACS. The RAF would also be deploying its E-3D AWACS and VC-10 mid-air refuellers.

According to the Air Marshal KK Nohwar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command "Indradhanush is an opportunity for both the Air Forces to get an insight into each others operational philosophies and work cultures. This will greatly enhance the understanding of our Air Force to operate in scenario involving state of the art technologies".

In a written brief to the participating aircrew, Air Marshal LK Malhotra, Senior Air Staff Officer of the Eastern Air Command said "This exercise will prove to be a boon for both the nations to fine tune their procedures for multi-national operations, which are likely to happen with greater frequency in future. It will help fine tune tactics for large force engagements and also share each others experience to hone up the skills even more".

During Ex-Indradhanush, specific emphasis will be on exposing more IAF aircrew and controllers to missions like Large Force Engagements, and protection of High Value Aerial Assets -- roles routinely undertaken by RAF as part of coalition/expeditionary force deployment around the globe. It will be for the first time that IAF AWACS will participate in a joint AF exercise. The other novel exposure is expected to be logistical management needed to move large forces for a possible out of area contingency.

Labels: , , , ,