Exercise 'Tarang Shakti' kicked off its first phase at Sulur on Tuesday, providing the Royal Air Force with an excellent opportunity to work very closely with the Indian Air Force and other international partners in a complicated, multilateral setting.
This inaugural phase of the exercise, which is the largest multilateral air drill to be conducted on Indian soil, began on August 6 and will go on up to August 14 at Sulur in Tamil Nadu. Participation is by the IAF, the RAF, and air forces of Germany, Spain, and France.
The RAF has dispatched 130 personnel, six Eurofighter Typhoons, two A330 Voyager air-to-air refuellers, and an A-400M military transport aircraft, all of which have arrived at Sulur Air Force Station. This was stated by the UK government.
"The exercise is an excellent opportunity for RAF to engage with the IAF and other participating nations in a challenging multilateral environment thus building interoperability and exchange of best practices", the statement read.
Besides the RAF, the exercise will also see participation by aircraft from France, Germany, Australia, and Greece. This will involve Rafale fighters, Typhoons, F-18s, and F-16s in this two-phase exercise.
British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron congratulated the IAF on its first multilateral air exercise and said, "I'm delighted that the Royal Air Force is playing an important part of it. Our defence and security cooperation cuts across all domains; our armed forces must exercise together if we are to maintain stability and promote prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.".
Group Captain Neil Jones, Air Adviser at the British High Commission, elaborated that Exercise 'Tarang Shakti' is a defining moment in the bilateral relationship between the two air forces. "Training in a multilateral environment exposes us to new challenges and facilitates the integration of our tactics and skills across different specializations," he said.
"For the RAF this exercise demonstrates our ability to conduct and sustain air operations over super distance whilst operating alongside partner nations. We are delighted to be a part of this."
In all, there will be some 150 aircraft from the IAF and participating nations involved in the exercise, with 10 foreign countries providing assets, and 18 countries attending as observers.
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