Indian, Russian air forces to begin 12-day war game in Jodhpur on Monday

The Indian and Russian air forces will begin a 12-day war game in Jodhpur on Monday with an aim to enhance their operational coordination.

The exercise — Aviaindra — will be unique as the Russian Air Force will not bring its assets and will take part in the drill using Indian platforms, said an official of the Indian Air Force said.

The first edition of the exercise was held in 2014.

Most of the fighter jets being used by the Indian Air Force is of Russian origin, and already both the air forces have achieved significant levels of inter-operability, said the official.

“In India, the pilots from the Russian Federation Aerospace Force will fly alongside their Indian counterparts in the IAF aircraft, which are common to both air forces,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

Russia has been a major partner of India in the defence sector and the cooperation has been steadily growing further.

In October last year, India and Russia held a 10-day mega war game involving their armies, navies and air forces for the first time to further ramp up military ties.

The exercise Indra, which took place in Russia, primarily focused on achieving coordination between forces of the two countries in a tri-services integrated theatre command scenario.

It was for the first time, India participate in a tri-services exercise with a foreign country with a large scale participation by the Navy, the Army and the Air Force.