From Strength to Strength ||February 2019

Yunus Dar

The Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2018 held crucial multinational exercises with global powers as India continued its efforts to strengthen its ties with other nations. Apart from multinational and bilateral exercises with other countries, the IAF conducted ground-breaking exercise Gagan Shakti to assess its war preparedness, which was unprecedented in scale and scope. Here is an overview of the exercises the IAF carried out in 2018.

Participating IAF pilots with their RAAF counterparts during Ex Pitch Black 2018

Exercise Pitch Black 2018

Exercise Pitch Black, a biennial multinational large force employment warfare exercise, hosted by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 24 July to 18 August 2018 in Darwin, Australia, was the largest ever this year. This was the first time that the IAF participated with air assets in the Exercise Pitch Black (PB-18); earlier it had participated in the exercise as observers.

The objectives for the exercise were to foster a closer relationship between the participating friendly forces and to promote interoperability through the exchange of knowledge and experience. The aim for participating crew and specialist observers was to expose them to op environment in international scenarios. The exercise comprised two phases, the first being the Force Integration week. During the Force Integration week, the forces flew basic missions with an aim to get to the same working platform.

The IAF undertook simulated air combat exercises in near-realistic environment and exchanged best practices towards enhancing its operational capability. The IAF contingent consisted of 145 air-warriors, including IAF Commandos team