IAF to carry out three mega exercises, joint warfighting to be focus

As the defence forces move towards creating theatre commands, the Indian Air Force will be carrying out three major exercises where the focus will be on showcasing jointness and integration in fighting wars of future.

The first exercise VayuShakti-2024 would be in the form of a major firepower demonstration in Jaisalmer where all the major fighter aircraft including the Rafale, Su-30MKIs, LCA Tejas, Mirage 2000 and the MiG-29s would be showcasing their firepower by shooting different missiles and bombs at designated targets, defence officials said while speaking to ANI.

The Indian Army and Indian Navy elements including attack helicopters are expected to demonstrate their prowess in the Vayu Shakti, they said.

The exercise is scheduled to be held on February 17 in Jaisalmer.

The next exercise planned by the Indian Air Force is the Exercise Gaganshakti which would see the entire Indian Air Force getting activated from Ladakh to the Indian Ocean Region and from Bhuj to Arunachal Pradesh, the officials said.

The wargame being planned for April this year would see almost all the fleets of fighter aircraft, transport planes, helicopters and drones getting active along all the frontiers and carrying out both offensive and defensive missions as per the tasks assigned to them, they said.

The S-400 or the Sudarshan long-range air defence system is also expected to be activated on both fronts including the western and the northern side for the wargames.

The pan-India level exercise Gaganshakti, conducted once in five years, is also expected to see the Su-30s and the other maritime role fighter aircraft squadrons flying in close coordination with the naval assets including the P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft and MiG-29K fighters.Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari has been working towards increasing jointness in operations with the other two services.

Enhancing integration in operations and day-to-day working of defence forces is the main agenda of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan.

Several measures and studies have been ordered by the Department of Military Affairs under him and progress has been made in multiple areas in upping jointness.

The third major exercise would be the first-ever multinational exercise Tarang Shakti-2024 being planned with foreign air forces which could see participation from the German, French, Italian, American and other prominent friendly forces from across the globe.

The Indian Air Force had last year focused majorly on multinational and bilateral exercises abroad and sent its aircraft to countries including France, Greece, UAE, Australia, Japan and other places.

The exercise is presently planned to be held in Jodhpur around August this year. The participation by different air forces is expected to be finalised around June.