Indian Air Force 'beats RAF (UK) 12-0 in training exercise'

[Vikrant]

I hope the umpiring was fair and balanced

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India’s top guns have claimed they humiliated the cream of the RAF during a two-week exercise which offered British pilots a rare chance to go up against some of the latest Russian-designed fighter jets.

Operation Indradhanush saw the Indian Air Force (IAF) bring four of its fleet of Russian-designed SU-30MKI Flanker fighter aircraft to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to face off against the RAF’s Typhoon FGR4 fighter.

The exercise was relished by British pilots as an opportunity to train alongside Russian-designed aircraft, amid increasing tensions in the Baltic – where the RAF has deployed fighters following the conflict in Ukraine – and more frequent interceptions of Russian bombers off the British coastline.

However, to the dismay of RAF officers, their Indian counterparts have reportedly taken the unusual step of publicly claiming to have come away from the exercise with a resounding 12-0 victory against their UK opponents.

In an interview with Indian television, IAF Group Captain Ashu Srivastav claimed victory over the British aircraft during close-range dogfights – prompting an RAF source to label his claim “comical”.

Group Captain Srivastav said the performance of his pilots was “exceptional”, while other reports in the Indian media said that IAF aircraft were able to defeat the more advanced RAF Typhoon aircraft not only in one-on-one combat, but also in situations where one IAF pilot was pitted against two Typhoons.

Responding to the Indian claims, the RAF source they were clearly designed for the “domestic audience”. He told The Independent: “There must have been some clouded recollection on the flights back to India, as the headlines of the Indian press bear no relation to the results of the tactical scenarios completed on the exercise in any shape or form.”

Indian Air Force beats RAF 12-0 in training exercise using Russian-designed jets - Home News - UK - The Independent

 

[Vikrant]

Good sportsmanship finally

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In the wake of a raging controversy over a recent joint exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Royal Air Force (RAF) in Britain after TV reports claimed that the IAF had routed the RAF 12-0, the IAF issued a formal statement on Monday evening, saying “there are no classic wins and losses as no weapons are fired as per their actual capability”. With some media reports claiming that an IAF pilot who participated in the exercise had purportedly bragged to TV channels that the IAF had trounced the RAF in the exercise, the IAF had gone into damage-control mode. Speculation was rife that the British were furious over the controversy. The British media had also dismissed reports about any such IAF victory in the joint air exercise.

“After the exercise, during debrief, a detailed analysis is carried out to assess the extent of achievement of laid down objectives. There are no classic wins and losses as no weapons are fired as per their actual capability,” the IAF said in a statement.

“Such exercises are conducted under controlled conditions with mutually agreed weapons performance parameters, with the basic aim of learning from each other’s best practices. ... The bonhomie amongst personnel on both sides has been exceptional and in the true spirit of a bilateral exercise. The aircrew of both the Air Forces have performed exceptionally well, demonstrating their high standards of training, operational preparedness, flexibility and adaptability. The RAF had been very forthcoming in meeting all operational, maintenance and administrative requirements of the IAF contingent,” the IAF statement read.

“The fourth edition of the Indo-UK bilateral air exercise named Indradhanush was held in the UK from 21-31 July 2015. The 190-strong contingent of the IAF left India on 15 July 2015 for the overseas deployment and returned on 04 August 2015. ... The air elements that took part in the air exercise this time were the Su-30 MKI, IL-78 tankers, C-17 and C-130J transport aircraft from the IAF and the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Voyager tanker, C-17 and C-130J from the RAF. In addition to the aircraft, the Indian Garud commandos participated alongside their British counterparts, the RAF Regiment of the Special Forces,” the IAF said.

Indian Air Force clears air over UK joint drill controversy The Asian Age