IAF to participate in air combat exercise in Israel

In tune with India's growing defence ties with Israel, the Indian Air Force will participate in an air combat exercise in the Jewish country later this year.
This will be the first time IAF will be part of the multinational exercise 'Blue Flag', known to be one of the biggest in West Asia.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin had visited India in November last year during which both sides decided to "broad-base" their already close defence partnership.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Israel in June or July, which will be a first by any Indian PM to the that country.

IAF sources said India will be part of the 'Blue Flag' exercise this year. A number of other countries including the US, France and Germany will also be part of the mega exercise.
Defence and security cooperation between India and Israel has been on an upswing. India is Israel's largest buyer of military hardware and the latter has been supplying various weapons systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles over the last few years but the transactions have largely remained behind the curtains.