New Delhi, June 28: India's frontline Sukhoi-30 jets
have flown to a Royal Air Force base for the first joint
exercise in British airspace by the two countries beginning
next week.
The SU-30mkis participating in the "Indra-Danush"
exercise at Waddington airbase have attracted aviation
afficionados and "spotters", who have been camping near the
base in eastern England with cameras to get their first
glimpse of the IAF jets.
The 10-day exercise will get underway on July 2. Six
SU-30mkis and two IL-78 mki mid-air refuelling aircraft will
participate in the wargame.
The first of two IL-76s ferrying 50 IAF personnel,
including ground crew and technicians, arrived at the RAF base
yesterday via Doha in Qatar and Tanagra in Greece.
"This is the first time ever that an IL-76 has landed at
any RAF airbase," Wing Commander P S Arora, the leader of the
crew of the IL-76, was quoted as saying by a IAF spokesman.
RAF Sergeant Ashwin "Azzy" Rana of the no 8 fighter
squadron at Waddington airbase is the liaison officer for the
IAF contingent.
The Waddington base is home to the RAF's airborne
intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and
reconnaissance aircraft.
Boeing E-3D sentry surveillance aircraft and nimrod R1
jets are operated from the base. The former constitutes the
British component of the NATO early warning force.
The airbase is also preparing for the Waddington
international air show, the largest of RAF's air shows.
Three SU-30mkis will be put on static display at the
show on June 30 and July 1. A flypast by a IL-78 flanked by
two SU-30mkis will also be part of the event.
Last year, the IAF and RAF conducted a joint exercise at
the Gwalior and Agra airbases. During this exercise, the RAF's
Tornado F-3s, an E-3d sentry and a VC-10 tanker engaged IAF
aircraft like the SU-30mki, Mirage 2000, MIG-21 bison and
MIG-27.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, June 28, 2007, 00:00