Vayu Shakti-24: IAF to flex muscle during large-scale exercise in Rajasthan
IAF will deploy its frontline assets during the exercise including Rafale fighter jets, Mirage-2000s, Sukhoi-30 MKIs, light combat aircraft Tejas and Jaguars
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force will flex its muscles at an upcoming exercise in Rajasthan that will involve more than 120 aircraft, including 77 fighter jets, with the drills aimed at showcasing the air force’s offensive and defensive capabilities by day and night, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.
Exercise Vayu Shakti-24 will be conducted on February 17 at the Pokhran air-to-ground range near Jaisalmer. IAF will deploy its frontline assets during the exercise, including Rafale fighter jets, Mirage-2000s, Sukhoi-30 MKIs, light combat aircraft Tejas, Jaguars, Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, Apache attack helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and surface-to-air missile systems.
“In a span of two hours, we will drop 40 to 50 tonnes of ordnance in a one to two-kilometre radius,” IAF vice chief Air Marshal AP Singh told reporters during a briefing on the exercise. The platforms taking part in the exercise for the first time include Rafales, Prachand light combat helicopters and Samar surface-to-air weapon system, Singh said.
Vayu Shakti was last held at Pokhran in February 2019 when fighter planes targeted and destroyed simulated enemy sites including ammunition dumps, bridges and command posts with a variety of missiles, precision-guided munitions, bombs and rockets, demonstrating IAF’s capability to hit hard, hit fast and hit with precision.
“As always, Exercise Vayu Shakti will be a riveting demonstration of the offensive and defensive capabilities of IAF by day and night. It will demonstrate IAF’s capability to deliver weapons with precision, on time and with devastating effect while operating from multiple air bases,” IAF said in a statement.
The exercise will also showcase joint operations with the army, it said.
The army’s M777 ultra-light howitzers will be seen in action during the exercise. Chinook helicopters can carry these 155 mm/39-calibre howitzers, which have a range of up to 30 km, as underslung load for swift deployment.
“Special operations by IAF transport and helicopter fleets, involving the Garud commandos and Indian Army elements will also be on display,” the statement added.
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IAF’s integrated air command and control system (IACCS) will be the backbone of the exercise, the officials said, asking not to be named.
The demonstration of IAF’s capabilities in the 2019 edition of Vayu Shakti involved light combat aircraft Tejas pounding simulated enemy installations with 2,000lb bombs, Su-30s launching the locally produced Astra missile to take down a ‘hostile jet,’ MiG-21s raining rockets on targets depicting an armoured column and MiG-27s taking out a bunker complex with bombs. Also, Mirage-2000 jets attacked simulated targets with 250- kg bombs.
Later this year, IAF will host a mega exercise that is expected to bring together 12 global air forces, with the focus being on improving interoperability, imbibing best practices from one another and boosting military cooperation among the participating countries. Named Tarang Shakti, it will be the biggest multi-nation air exercise to be conducted on Indian soil and will involve fighter jets, transport aircraft, helicopters, mid-air refuellers, airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, and unmanned systems.
To be sure, while Tarang Shakti will be the biggest multilateral exercise to be conducted in India, IAF has taken part in several such drills on foreign soil.
This year IAF will also conduct its pan-India and the largest-of-its-kind exercise, Gagan Shakti, the officials said. In the 2018 edition of Gagan Shakti, the air force clocked more 11,000 sorties during the two-phase air manoeuvres that saw the concentration of the air force’s deployed assets move from the western sector to the eastern front in less than 48 hours.
It sought to test IAF’s readiness and stamina for a two-front war with China and Pakistan. From deep strikes to air dominance and maritime operations to air defence, IAF practised every manoeuvre in the book in its preparation for a short and intense war.
