Days after border clash, Indian Air Force mega exercise in NE

New Delhi, December 15

The (IAF) today started a two-day exercise over the eastern sector while specifying that it was a pre-planned drill and not a reaction to the recent confrontation with China on the border.

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The last of the 36 Rafale fighter jets landed in India on Wednesday night. The planes have been based at Ambala and Chhabua in the North-East.

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India had announced a NOTAM (notice to airmen) for a no-fly zone over the North-East for December 15-16. The IAF bases at Tezpur, Missamari, Chhabua, Jorhat in Assam and Hashimara and Bagdogra in West Bengal are participating in the mega exercise.

All IAF combat aircraft based in the eastern sector and other resources deployed in the region are involved in the exercise. These include fighter jets Rafale and Sukhoi-30MKI, besides helicopters Chinook, Apache and Mi-17, air borne early warning and control systems (AEW&CS) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

All forward airbases and advanced landing grounds (ALGs) of the IAF in the north-eastern region are also included in the exercise, which is being held for the purpose of “testing the combat capability of the IAF”.

Though the drill is taking place within days of the clash between the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China at the LAC in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Ashish Moghe said the exercise “was pre-planned”.

Before the recent clash between India and China near Tawang, Chinese drones had moved very aggressively towards the Indian positions on the LAC.