India joins U.S.’s Red Flag air and RIMPAC naval exercises

Indian Air Force and Indian Navy are taking part in two mega multinational war games hosted by their U.S. counterparts. The IAF has deployed Rafale fighter jets for the two-week multinational air exercise Red Flag which commenced in Alaska on May 30. Red Flag-Alaska is designed to provide realistic training in a simulated combat environment enabling joint combined forces to exchange tactics, techniques and procedures while improving interoperability with fellow service members, USAF said. “The exercises can be adapted to integrate various forces into a realistic threat environment using the more than 77,000 square miles of airspace in the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, which is the largest combat training range in the world.” Largest naval exercise Indian Navy said on June 1 that INS Shivalik, mission deployed to the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, departed Singapore on May 30 for onward passage to Yokosuka, Japan to participate in Japan-India maritime exercise JIMEX-24 scheduled to be held mid-June and then onward to RIMPAC-24. Approximately 29 nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, over 150 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel will participate in the biennial RIMPAC exercise scheduled from June 26 to August 2, in and around the Hawaiian Islands, according to a statement from the Commander U.S. third fleet public affairs.