Indian Air Force And US Navy Excercise To Be Carried Out In IOR
As a strategic outreach exercise with the defence forces of friendly foreign countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the Indian Air Force will participate in operational engagements with the US Navy in an exercise to be carried out with the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group (CSG) on 23 and 24 Jun 21. The CSG is currently deployed in the IOR.
The Exercise in the AoR of Southern Air Command will see the IAF forces operate from bases under four operational commands and will include Jaguars & Su-30 MKI fighters, AWACS, AEW&C and Air to Air Refueller aircraft. The US CSG is expected to field F-18 fighters and E-2C Hawkeye AEW&C aircraft. The exercise will be carried out south of Thiruvananthapuram, on the western seaboard, over two days.
IAF has extensive experience in maritime operations in the IOR. This has been consolidated over the years by the conduct of exercises from the country’s island territories, including participation in international exercises. The multispectral capability of the IAF in IOR also includes HADR missions and logistics support undertaken in support of friendly nations in the region. This engagement with the US CSG offers one more opportunity to undertake joint operations in the maritime domain with a friendly foreign power. The exercise with the US CSG will focus on multiple areas including enhancing aspects of interoperability, nuances of international integrated maritime SAR operations, and exchange of best practices in the maritime airpower domain.
I was wondering why the Indian Naval Air Arm was not incorporated in the strategic outreach exercise which has its Mig-29K’s, Boeing P-81 Neptune’s, Ilyushin II-38’s, and various other aircraft which is capable to operate and conduct air-to air-combat, surface attack, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, aerial reconnaissance, etc. and should have aimed to strengthen the abilities of the Indian Naval and the US Naval maritime operations as the Navy is mostly involved in maritime activities. In an article of The Indian Express, it was given that the ‘high tempo operations during the exercise include advanced air defence exercises, cross deck helicopter operations and anti-submarine exercises’ and I think that the Indian Navy was a more suitable option than the IAF.