Ex Red Flag Begins: IAF's Largest Ever Overseas Deployment Gets Into Action
(NSI News Source Info) August 12, 2008: An Indian Air Force SU-30 Fighter lands at Nellis AFB to take part in a Red Flag exercise for the first time. The tough and prestigious Exercise red flag formally began at Air Force Base Nellis, Nevada USA on 10 Aug 08 with inaugural briefings & mission planning by the participating Air Forces. 09 Aug was the day of lead in preparations. The Red Flag 08 has the participation of IAF with eight Su-30s, two IL-78 tankers an IL-76 aircraft & 247 Air Warriors along with the French Air Force with Rafale, South Korean Air Force with F-15s & US AF with F-15s & F-16s. IAF & other visiting Air Forces along with a large USAF element would be part of the Blue Forces (friendly) which would engage in combat with the Red Forces. The Red Forces are the "Aggressors" with F-15s & F-16s aircraft of 64th & 65th Aggressor squadrons of USAF based at Air Force Base Nellis. Exercise Red Flag provides a realistic war situation in which the Blue Force pilots will have all possible odds ‘thrown’ at them. Availability of a large air to air range with threat replication contributes to the tremendous training value of the exercise. The replication of the air war would see the IAF's Su-30 aircraft participating in suppression of enemy air defence (SEAD) air to air & air to ground missions. The IL-78 tankers and USAF AWACS would be in active support role. The IL-76 would undertake tactical transport operations & large force engagements operations. During the exercise a set of Red Flag team forms the ‘white Force’ & use high tech instrumentation and mission debrief tools to evaluate the performance of the participants in a clinical and detached manner. During the exercise the Blue force are made to change their plans often to put them under pressure. The White Force watches the entire exercise in real time on monitor screens on ground. Kill removal (removal of the pilots and aircraft assumed shot by the enemy) makes the exercise more realistic. Addressing the participating Air Warriors, contingent commander Gp Capt D Choudhury said" we have trained long & hard for this day. It is the time to showcase our professionalism. I have total faith & confidence in you. The world is watching us, so gentlemen lets show them what we are made up of." (ends)
India to Join US Air Force Training Exercises for First Time
India's military pilots are expected to participate for the first time in US Air Force training exercises above the Nevada desert, marking another step in improving US relations with the Asian subcontinent nation since the11th September terrorist attacks. South Korean and French pilots also will take part in the combat exercises that begin later on Monday and will put about 65 airplanes in the skies over two weeks, US Air Force officials said. "This particular Air Force exercise is important because India is included among some very important allies," said Christine Fair, a South Asia specialist at the RAND Corp, a non-profit think tank. "This is definitely an extension of an arc that has been mapped out since 2000, and it really signifies that what India and the United States have is a strategic relationship." The Indian and US militaries had little interaction during the Cold War, when India was more closely aligned to the Soviet Union and the United States was seen as an ally of Pakistan. But relations have improved, with increasing political, economic and military ties. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and the subsequent fight against terrorism brought the two sides even closer. Military ties have expanded rapidly since then, with a series of joint exercises in the air, on land and at sea. The strongest negative reaction to the joint military exercises would most likely come not from China, but from North Korea, said Jing-dong Yuan, a non-proliferation expert at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. "Pyongyang, through its state-run news agency, the Korean Central News Agency, has consistently and passionately criticised such ventures, accusing the United States of harbouring hostile intentions toward North Korea," Yuan said. "Beijing would likely remain reticent (about) such training since it does not see itself as directly and imminently affected by such activities." The US Air Force exercises are not designed to target any specific country or threat, but to test how the forces would work together during large scale missions, said Capt. Marcus Wilson, team chief for the exercises. "We will learn how our allies operate in response to similar threats," Wilson said in a statement. "It will allow us to build observations to eventually learn those lessons about what it takes to integrate, talk, fly with, employ, deploy and sustain air power with places like India, Korea and France." Wilson said more than 1,000 people would participate in simulations, ranging from bomb-dropping to hostage rescue. A growing military alliance between the US and India would be welcomed by US firms eager to get a share of the arms market in India, where Russia has long been the prime supplier. India has already agreed to buy six of Lockheed's C-130J Hercules airlift aircraft for roughly USD 1 billion. Boeing Corp and Lockheed Martin are among those bidding on a USD 10 billion deal with India to supply 126 fighter aircraft.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Indian Air Force: IAF's Largest Ever Overseas Deployment Gets Into Action
Ex Red Flag Begins: IAF's Largest Ever Overseas Deployment Gets Into Action
(NSI News Source Info) August 12, 2008: An Indian Air Force SU-30 Fighter lands at Nellis AFB to take part in a Red Flag exercise for the first time. The tough and prestigious Exercise red flag formally began at Air Force Base Nellis, Nevada USA on 10 Aug 08 with inaugural briefings & mission planning by the participating Air Forces. 09 Aug was the day of lead in preparations. The Red Flag 08 has the participation of IAF with eight Su-30s, two IL-78 tankers an IL-76 aircraft & 247 Air Warriors along with the French Air Force with Rafale, South Korean Air Force with F-15s & US AF with F-15s & F-16s. IAF & other visiting Air Forces along with a large USAF element would be part of the Blue Forces (friendly) which would engage in combat with the Red Forces. The Red Forces are the "Aggressors" with F-15s & F-16s aircraft of 64th & 65th Aggressor squadrons of USAF based at Air Force Base Nellis. Exercise Red Flag provides a realistic war situation in which the Blue Force pilots will have all possible odds ‘thrown’ at them. Availability of a large air to air range with threat replication contributes to the tremendous training value of the exercise. The replication of the air war would see the IAF's Su-30 aircraft participating in suppression of enemy air defence (SEAD) air to air & air to ground missions. The IL-78 tankers and USAF AWACS would be in active support role. The IL-76 would undertake tactical transport operations & large force engagements operations. During the exercise a set of Red Flag team forms the ‘white Force’ & use high tech instrumentation and mission debrief tools to evaluate the performance of the participants in a clinical and detached manner. During the exercise the Blue force are made to change their plans often to put them under pressure. The White Force watches the entire exercise in real time on monitor screens on ground. Kill removal (removal of the pilots and aircraft assumed shot by the enemy) makes the exercise more realistic. Addressing the participating Air Warriors, contingent commander Gp Capt D Choudhury said" we have trained long & hard for this day. It is the time to showcase our professionalism. I have total faith & confidence in you. The world is watching us, so gentlemen lets show them what we are made up of." (ends)
India to Join US Air Force Training Exercises for First Time
India's military pilots are expected to participate for the first time in US Air Force training exercises above the Nevada desert, marking another step in improving US relations with the Asian subcontinent nation since the11th September terrorist attacks. South Korean and French pilots also will take part in the combat exercises that begin later on Monday and will put about 65 airplanes in the skies over two weeks, US Air Force officials said. "This particular Air Force exercise is important because India is included among some very important allies," said Christine Fair, a South Asia specialist at the RAND Corp, a non-profit think tank. "This is definitely an extension of an arc that has been mapped out since 2000, and it really signifies that what India and the United States have is a strategic relationship." The Indian and US militaries had little interaction during the Cold War, when India was more closely aligned to the Soviet Union and the United States was seen as an ally of Pakistan. But relations have improved, with increasing political, economic and military ties. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and the subsequent fight against terrorism brought the two sides even closer. Military ties have expanded rapidly since then, with a series of joint exercises in the air, on land and at sea. The strongest negative reaction to the joint military exercises would most likely come not from China, but from North Korea, said Jing-dong Yuan, a non-proliferation expert at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. "Pyongyang, through its state-run news agency, the Korean Central News Agency, has consistently and passionately criticised such ventures, accusing the United States of harbouring hostile intentions toward North Korea," Yuan said. "Beijing would likely remain reticent (about) such training since it does not see itself as directly and imminently affected by such activities." The US Air Force exercises are not designed to target any specific country or threat, but to test how the forces would work together during large scale missions, said Capt. Marcus Wilson, team chief for the exercises. "We will learn how our allies operate in response to similar threats," Wilson said in a statement. "It will allow us to build observations to eventually learn those lessons about what it takes to integrate, talk, fly with, employ, deploy and sustain air power with places like India, Korea and France." Wilson said more than 1,000 people would participate in simulations, ranging from bomb-dropping to hostage rescue. A growing military alliance between the US and India would be welcomed by US firms eager to get a share of the arms market in India, where Russia has long been the prime supplier. India has already agreed to buy six of Lockheed's C-130J Hercules airlift aircraft for roughly USD 1 billion. Boeing Corp and Lockheed Martin are among those bidding on a USD 10 billion deal with India to supply 126 fighter aircraft.
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