NEW DELHI – Gagan Shakti 2018, the biggest ever military exercise in thehistory of Indian Air Force is being held nationwide by the Indian AirForce. The exercise began on April 8, and will end on April 22. It’s thebiggest such exercise in terms of scale since the Operation Brasstacks in1986-1987 or Operation Parakram in 2001-2002.
As many as 1,150 fighters, aircraft, helicopters and drones have beendeployed for the massive exercise, which is taking place with activeparticipation from the Indian Army and Navy for integrated land-air-seacombat operations.
According to reports in the Indian media, the Indian Air Force launched5,000 sorties in just three days, simulating attacks on Pakistan.
It was also reported that the IAF has systematically worked towardsachieving 83 per cent serviceability (operational availability of thenumber of aircraft at any given time) for the exercise, in conjunction withHindustan Aeronautics and base repair depots, from the usual 55pc-60pc inpeacetime.
IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa was quoted as saying “Theaim of the exercise is to validate our operational capabilities andconcepts in a realistic war-like scenario as well as check our ability tosustain high-tempo operations. It’s not aimed at any country.”
However, the Indian Air Force has now switched its forces from the westernborder with Pakistan to the northern borders with China, from Ladakh toArunachal Pradesh.
The Indian media has reported that the “game-plan is quite clear. If thefocus in the western theatre was to generate the maximum possible sortieswith the same number of fighters to overwhelm the enemy forces, the intentin the eastern one is to operate from dispersed locations to avoid theadversary’s rocket forces while undertaking deep strikes with Sukhoi-30MKIfighters being refueled in mid-air by IL-78 aircraft.
Fighters are also practising concentrated weapon releases in realisticattack scenarios all throughout GaganShakti, which includes firingprecision-weapons with ‘through window’ capabilities.
A simulated battalion-level airborne assault behind enemy lines, whichincluded paradrop of 560 soldiers, combat vehicles and GPS-guided cargoplatforms, has also been undertaken with six C-130J Super Hercules andseven AN-32 aircraft launched from multiple airbases.”
On the Chinese border, the IAF combat maneuvers will also see intensivehigh-altitude operations at advanced landing grounds and helipads, some ashigh as 20,000-feet, as also inter-valley troop transfers and logisticssustenance by heavy-duty helicopters to make up for the lack of roads.
It was also stated that GaganShakti, in short, reiterates the primacy andflexibility of airpower in modern-day battles.
The Sukhoi-30MKIs, which have a combat radius of about 1,500-km withoutmid-air refueling, for instance, have even got airborne from a easterncoast airbase to strikemultiple targets in the western seaboard atdistances beyond 2,200-km before landing at a southern base to cover atotal distance of around 4,000-km in single non-stop missions.
According to another report, the Indian Air Force is in the middle of itslargest pan-India combat-training exercise ever.
And, this time, the focus is not just on the western front but also on theIndian Ocean Region (IOR), which has always been of immense strategicimportance.
This all-encompassing exercise by the Indian Air Force comes in the wake ofthe Chinese bid to assert its dominance in the South China Sea and itsincreasing forays into the IOR.
“The Indian Ocean Region which is home to around 36 countries, is alsoimmensely important for 15 other peripheral states in the region. IOR alsoprovides these countries with deep sea minerals and fisheries. Apart frombeing a resource by itself, the IOR is an apex trade route for both theWest and the East.
Today, 40 percent of the world’s oil supply and 64 percent of oil trade,passes through the IOR.
David Michel and Russel Sticklor in their book Natural Resources in theIndian Ocean Region, state how there has been a 13-fold increase in fishingin the IOR and that it now accounts for almost 15 percent of world’s totalfishing.
The increasing free passage, choke points, new straits have made IOR aglobal quest for trade & commerce.
So, today if there is a dominant discourse around IOR, it is that of trade,strategy and security.”
From deep strikes to air dominance and long-range maritime strikes off thewest coast to air defence, the IAF is practising every manoeuvre in thebook in its preparation for a short and intense war.
The Gaganshakti-2018 exercise seeks to test the IAF’s readiness and staminafor a two-front war with China and Pakistan.
Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa has admitted Pakistan was closelywatching the operation.