In a move that could raise the hackles of the Left parties, the Indian Air Force has sought the government's nod to take part in the world's most advanced aerial combat training exercises, ironically labelled Red Flag, hosted by the US.
The IAF wants to take part in the exercises slated for January 2008 and has sought the government's clearance, Air Force Chief Fali Homi Major said in Delhi on Friday.
If the Government gives the nod, this will be the second time in months that the Indian Armed Forces would be engaged in war games with US and its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.
Last month Indian warships conducted war maneouvers with ships, submarines and fighters from US, Australia, Japan and Singapore in the Bay of Bengal, which triggered widespread protests from the Left parties.
"We have bid to take part in the exercises in 2008, which are the most sought after by air forces the world over," Major told reporters during an interaction in Delhi.
The Red Flag exercises are conducted in four to six cycles a year by the 414th Combat training squadron of the US Air Force to train fighter pilots from US, NATO and other allied countries for real combat situations by using live hardware and ammunition.
The exercises are conducted within the Nellis range complex, located north-west of Las Vegas, which covers an area of 60 nautical miles by 100 nautical miles approximately half the area of Switzerland.
Though the IAF fighters and transport aircraft have taken part in numerous US-led multi nation exercises in nearby Alaska, this is the first time that the IAF has been invited by the US Air Force to take part in the Red Flag series of war games.
The exercises, which would involve sending Indian fighters, transport planes and mid-air refuellers to Nellis Air Force base at Nevada, is of six weeks duration.
In a typical Red Flag exercise, Blue Forces (friendly) engage Red Forces (hostile) in realistic combat situations, where electronic ground defences, AWACS, radar jamming equipment are used.
A key element of the exercises, to which the IAF chief referred, is the Red Flag measurement and debriefing system. It is a computer hardware and software network, which provides real time monitoring, post mission reconstruction of manouvres and tactics, participant pairings and integration of range targets and simulated threats. "It will be a good learning curve for our fighter pilots," Major said.
