Indian Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari with German Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, General Stephane Mille, Chief of Staff of the French Air and Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force (Spain) Francisco Braco Carbó during the multilateral air combat exercise Ex Tarang Shakti, at Sulur airbase.
| Photo Credit: ANI
As Phase-I of Tarang Shakti, the largest multilateral air exercise hosted by the Indian Air Force (IAF), comes to a close, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal (ACM) V. R. Chaudhari has announced plans to make the exercise a biennial event. He stressed that it should not be seen as a “challenge to any other nation.”
“We will definitely take up the case of having this exercise once in every alternate year. We will take a call later on how many nations we can accommodate. But this is definitely not the last,” ACM Chaudhari told the media in Sulur, where Phase-I is being held from August 6 to 14. Phase-2 is scheduled to be held in Jodhpur from September 1–14. He was accompanied by his counterparts from France, General Stephane Mike, Germany, Lt. General Ingo Gerhartz, and Spain, Air General Francisco Braco Carbo.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) showcases its multiple Made-in-India weapon systems during the Tarang Shakti exercise, at Sulur in Coimbatore.
| Photo Credit:
ANI
ACM Chaudhari said they would collate all the debrief points at the end of phase two and analyse them before taking a call on how many nations could be made a part of the next edition of Tarang Shakti. At the same time, he also stressed, “This is a training exercise where we learnt how to operate an aircraft with or without a datalink, how to create a common communication protocol, and common tactics and programmmes. There is no other objective.”
In all, the exercise will feature 18 countries, 10 of them with air assets. There will be a total of 150 aircraft, both foreign and IAF, taking part. Invitations had been extended to 51 countries.
LCA praised
The IAF Chief and the Spanish Chief flew sorties in the Russian-origin Su-30MKI, while the German and French chiefs flew the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas. The LCA, the smallest fighter in the exercise, came in for praise from the visiting chiefs.
“We will use the LCA more in air combat drills within and outside the country,” ACM Chaudhari said. Germany, Spain, and the UK fielded their Eurofighter Typhoon while the French deployed the Rafale. This is the first time Germany has joined an air exercise in Indian skies. These air forces joined Phase-I on their return journey home after participating in Exercise Pitch Black, hosted by Australia.
Several indigenous platforms, the LCA, Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), trainer HTT-40, and the aerobatic helicopter team, Sarang, took to the skies over Sulur air force station in an air display.
Phase-2 will see the participation of Australia, Bangladesh, Greece, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the US, and 18 observer countries.
Each phase of the exercise includes 70–80 aircraft from both IAF and participating forces. The IAF will field over 40 aircraft each in both phases. The Indian Navy participated in Phase-1 with its Mig-29K carrier borne fighters.
The IAF has significantly increased its participation in bilateral and multilateral exercises. Since 2001, the IAF has participated in 91 international air exercises. Of these, 32 exercises were hosted by the IAF, and it fielded assets in 42 exercises across the globe.
