Date:23/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/23/stories/2008082360991300.htm

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Nevada war games in crucial phase

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: The multinational air exercise ‘Exercise Red Flag’ at the Nellis base of the U.S Air Force in Nevada entered its crucial phase following the crawl, walk and run pattern of exercising.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is participating with eight Su-30 fighters, two Il-78s (mid air refuellers), an Il-76 and 247 air warriors. This is the first time the IAF has been invited to one version of the Red Flag exercise, originally a Cold War exercise but now expanded to include the US’ new-found friends and allies.

During this phase of the exercise, a present-day air campaign is replicated, in which the opposition forces, or the ‘aggressors’ F16s and F15s, are the air-to-air and air-to-ground threats to the Blue Land and its forces. Surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) along with long and short-range quick reaction missiles are deployed to neutralise the friendly Blue Forces. The Red Land always keeps shifting their SAM sites making it difficult for the Blue Forces.

Owing to these facts, the Blue Forces have to typically carry out certain missions, in which they sanitise the air space first by removing or eliminating the enemy airfields, destroying the aircraft and SAM sites. These tasks are carried out by ‘strike packages’ comprising the IAF’s Su-30s flying with the U.S. Air Force F15s and F16s, ‘Prowlers’ of the U.S. Navy, Rafales of the French Air Force and F15s of the Korean Air Force.

Once the air space is sanitised the Blue Forces’ strike package goes about its task in which they are assisted by KC-135 and Il-178 tankers, AWACS of the USAF and the Compass Call (a USAF Boeing aircraft used for electronic warfare).

An interesting aspect of the air war between the Red and the Blue Forces is that the aggressors use all possible means to gather intelligence from the Blue Forces. This they use against the Blue Forces.

The success of the missions in these air campaigns is the situational awareness of all persons involved. Hence network-centric operations are the pivots.

The main challenge during the exercise for the IAF has been to adapt to the USAF network and also carry out ‘Stand Alone’ tasks simultaneously. The young IAF pilots (average age late 20s) have done this with dexterity.