*NEW DELHI- *The Indian Air Force or IAF is set to hold one of its biggestwargames specifically designed to deal with any simultaneous threat posedby Pakistan and China. The exercises, called Gagan Shakti 2018, arescheduled to take place anytime between the April 11 and 21 and will seethe Indian Air Force mobilise 1100 aircraft including fighters, transportsand helicopters.

Close to 4000 sorties have been planned through the day and night acrossthe length and breadth of the country. Simulated strike missions by IAFfighters also extend deep into the Indian Ocean.

15,000 men and 300 officers are participating in the exercises whichinclude joint operations with the army and the navy. For the first time,the made in India Tejas light combat aircraft, which is being inducted intothe IAF, will be taking part in these exercises and will be used for bothair defence and ground attack missions.

Gagan Shakti 2018 will revolve around two phases. Phase 1 will seeoperations along the western border for which the government of Pakistanhas been given prior intimation. This phase merges seamlessly into the nextone along the northern border and will also see operations at high-altitudeair landing grounds which have been constructed with an eye on Chinesedefences on the Tibet front.

The success of individual missions, such as simulated air combatoperations, will be gauged in real-time by the IAF headquarters which wantsto ensure that these exercises “are as real as they get without anyshortcuts.”

The key to the overall success of Gagan Shakti will be maintainability ofthe fleet or the ability of the IAF to successfully launch as many aircraftas possible, whenever they are required with minimal failure rates inbetween missions.

This is critical for the IAF which finds itself short on aircraft,particularly in its fighter fleet, a major deficiency it is looking toovercome through acquisition of more than 100 fighter jets for which thegovernment today released a Request for Information (RFI) frominternational aerospace majors.