ID :
16704
Fri, 08/22/2008 - 23:29
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/16704
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IAF wins acclaim at 'Red Flag' exercise in US
world's most advanced 'Red Flag' air war games in the US, the Indian Air Force (I.A.F.) pilots have been termed as "worldclass" from seasoned US Air Force (U.S.A.F.) airwarriors.
"I.A.F. is a world class air force with great aircraft and great leadership," Captain Marcus 'Spike' Wilson, an ace airwarrior of the U.S.A.F., said at Nellis Air Base in Nevada desert, where the multinational air wargames 'Exercise RedFlag' entered its its final run.
From today, eight Sukhoi-30 fighters of the I.A.F. along with Il-78 midair refuellers began their 'agni pariksha' to test their flying skills and machines with some of the mostformidable flying machines in the world.
In an atmosphere of most potent surface-to-air missiles such as SA-2, 3, 6 and 8, short range quick reaction missiles and constant air surveillance from AWACS and satellites, the I.A.F. fighters took on N.A.T.O.'s leading fighters like Rafale, F-16 Fighting Falcons and F-15 Tomcats in a gruelling two day-and-night manoeuvres, which stretched the fine pilots'skills to the limit.
With 'Red Flag' entering its 'Run' phase after the successful completion of 'Crawl' and 'Walk' phases of exercising, the I.A.F. joined the present-day air campaign replicated with the opposition 'aggressors' to counterair-to-air and air-to-ground threats from F-16s and F-15s.
With the 'enemy' forces shifting their S.A.M. sites making it difficult to the 'friendly' forces of which the I.A.F. is a part in the exercise, the latter have to typically carry out missions to sanitise the air space first by removing or eliminating the enemy airfields and missile sites, apart fromdestroying their aircraft.
"These tasks were carried out by the I.A.F.'s Su-30s along with the U.S.A.F.'s F-16s and F-15s, 'Prowlers' of the US Navy, Rafales of the French Air Force and the F-15s of the South Korean Air force, assisted by the KC-135, Il-78 tankers, AWACS of the U.S.A.F. and Compas Call, a U.S.A.F. Boeing aircraft used for electronic warfare," the I.A.F. officer saidfrom Nellis.
An interesting aspect of the air wargames is that the 'enemy' forces gather all possible intelligence from the 'friendly' forces and use it against the latter in the airwar.
"It is imperative on the friendly forces' personnel not to give out information to unauthorised person, as he or she could be a spy," the officer said, explaining the air wargamesscenario.
Since the success of the missions in the exercise was dependent on the situational awareness of all personnel, the network centric operations were the pivots on which thedifference between life and death hinged.
"The main challenge during the exercise for the I.A.F.
team has been to adapt to the U.S.A.F. network and also carry out stand alone tasks simultaneously. The young IAF pilots have done this with amazing dexterity," the I.A.F. officeradded.
"I.A.F. is a world class air force with great aircraft and great leadership," Captain Marcus 'Spike' Wilson, an ace airwarrior of the U.S.A.F., said at Nellis Air Base in Nevada desert, where the multinational air wargames 'Exercise RedFlag' entered its its final run.
From today, eight Sukhoi-30 fighters of the I.A.F. along with Il-78 midair refuellers began their 'agni pariksha' to test their flying skills and machines with some of the mostformidable flying machines in the world.
In an atmosphere of most potent surface-to-air missiles such as SA-2, 3, 6 and 8, short range quick reaction missiles and constant air surveillance from AWACS and satellites, the I.A.F. fighters took on N.A.T.O.'s leading fighters like Rafale, F-16 Fighting Falcons and F-15 Tomcats in a gruelling two day-and-night manoeuvres, which stretched the fine pilots'skills to the limit.
With 'Red Flag' entering its 'Run' phase after the successful completion of 'Crawl' and 'Walk' phases of exercising, the I.A.F. joined the present-day air campaign replicated with the opposition 'aggressors' to counterair-to-air and air-to-ground threats from F-16s and F-15s.
With the 'enemy' forces shifting their S.A.M. sites making it difficult to the 'friendly' forces of which the I.A.F. is a part in the exercise, the latter have to typically carry out missions to sanitise the air space first by removing or eliminating the enemy airfields and missile sites, apart fromdestroying their aircraft.
"These tasks were carried out by the I.A.F.'s Su-30s along with the U.S.A.F.'s F-16s and F-15s, 'Prowlers' of the US Navy, Rafales of the French Air Force and the F-15s of the South Korean Air force, assisted by the KC-135, Il-78 tankers, AWACS of the U.S.A.F. and Compas Call, a U.S.A.F. Boeing aircraft used for electronic warfare," the I.A.F. officer saidfrom Nellis.
An interesting aspect of the air wargames is that the 'enemy' forces gather all possible intelligence from the 'friendly' forces and use it against the latter in the airwar.
"It is imperative on the friendly forces' personnel not to give out information to unauthorised person, as he or she could be a spy," the officer said, explaining the air wargamesscenario.
Since the success of the missions in the exercise was dependent on the situational awareness of all personnel, the network centric operations were the pivots on which thedifference between life and death hinged.
"The main challenge during the exercise for the I.A.F.
team has been to adapt to the U.S.A.F. network and also carry out stand alone tasks simultaneously. The young IAF pilots have done this with amazing dexterity," the I.A.F. officeradded.
