India seeks commando training, US eyes business at joint air force exercise
By Sahil Makkar, IANSMonday, October 19, 2009
AGRA - The sixth edition of an annual Indian-US Air Force exercise kicked off here Monday with India looking for more operational exposure for its specialised commando force and the US eying more contracts for transport aircraft.
“The IAF (Indian Air Force) Garuds will train along with the US Air Force Special Operations force to validate concepts and interoprtablity for executing special operations in a simulated hostile environment,” said Air Commodore Shouvik Roy, who is in overall charge of the Cope India exercise that concludes Oct 24.
“The Garuds would be exposed to new fields such as para-rescue and combat search and rescue operations. This would help the Garuds to shape their future operational philosophy and training format and upgrade their equipment profile,” he added.
The Garuds were raised in 2004 with the object of securing IAF assets — aircraft, airfields and other infrastructure — across the country. The Garuds are presently based on the outskirts of New Delhi.
A senior IAF officer said it would be keenly studying how the US Special Operations force reacts and performs in different situations.
“Our special force is very new. We would be exhibiting our skills and then would take suggestions for improvements. This is the first time such a large number of our men would be exposed to a superior force,” the officer told IANS.
During the exercise, both sides will work to enhance their knowledge levels and understand the employment philosophies of both tactical and heavy-lift platforms in joint operations.
Earlier exercises in India have taken place at Agra, Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and Kalaikunda in West Bengal. Two editions of the drill have been conducted in the US. Since the theme of this year’s exercise revolves around transport aircraft, India chose the Agra Air Force Station as the venue as this is one of the largest such bases in Asia, housing a variety of transport aircraft.
The IAF contingent for the exercise comprises five AN-32 medium-lift transport aircraft, one IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft, two Mi-17 helicopters, one Chetak helicopter and 250 airmen. The US Air Force has come with the giant C-17 Globemaster III, three C-130H and one C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft.
India has purchased six C-130Js to be operated by the IAF for the army’s Special Forces and has expressed interest in the C-17.
US Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer, in his opening remarks, said the exercise was the perfect example of how the US and Indian air forces were working together to share information, train and hone their professional skills.
“I can assure the Indian Air Force it will be very pleased with its decision to purchase the C-130J. The first of them will arrive in early 2011 and the aircraft will be everything you hope it to be,” he maintained.
“I’m also glad to see the mighty C-17 Globemaster, which I understand is under consideration of your ministry of defence. I would be remiss in not recognising it as a world-class strategic and tactical airlifter. Should you decide to acquire the aircraft, we will do everything we can to assist you in expanding your airlift capability,” Roemer added.
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October 19, 2009: 3:38 pm
Colleagues: The comments of Ambassador Roemer relative to the wisdom of adding the airlift capabilities of Boeing C-17 to the IAF should be recognized for their timeliness and value, particularly in view of a rapidly changing geo-political landscape that now includes concerns over China’s militaristic/geo-economic intentions and the clear potential impact on India’s national security. Although we have great respect for China, arguably, the world’s oldest continuing civilization, and its extraordinary progress in terms of advancing from a country suppressed, exploited and dismissed as a sovereign nation for nearly two centuries, its quest for self-determination and sufficiency at the expense of others is unacceptable. In this vein, we feel it appropriate to provide a link to the contents of a release earlier this year that is very specific in its assertions as relating to the potential for global instability and uncertainty represented by China’s known and projected activities. Included in this release is reference to a scenario “Battle of the South China Sea: 2011″ and is described this way: “As was noted on both [Washington, D.C-based] The Hudson Institute and the Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) (https://www.pnsr.org/web/page/668/sectionid/579/pagelevel/2/interior.asp ) sites: “In this future scenario, hypothetical Chinese aggression towards Taiwan provokes a Sino-U.S. military confrontation. “The purpose of this scenario is to expose flaws and weaknesses within the current U.S. national security apparatus. It calls attention to potential dangers of overlooking current weaknesses in the U.S. defense industrial base and global supply chain. The text also highlights the importance of evaluating assumptions and continually assessing novel events.” Any assumptions that China’s burgeoning trade ties around the globe precludes implementation of long-developed strategies to achieve status as the world’s preiminent military power, obviously don’t know their Sun Tzu very well, and who said in essence, “Economic War is always waged first.” |
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October 19, 2009: 3:29 pm
Colleagues: The comments of Ambassador Roemer relative to the wisdom of adding the airlift capabilities of Boeing C-17 to the IAF should be recognized for their timeliness and value, particularly in view of a rapidly changing geo-political landscape that now includes concerns over China’s militaristic/geo-economic intentions and the clear potential impact on India’s national security. Although we have great respect for China, arguably, the world’s oldest continuing civilization, and its extraordinary progress in terms of advancing from a country suppressed, exploited and dismissed as a sovereign nation for nearly two centuries, its quest for self-determination and sufficiency at the expense of others is unacceptable. In this vein, we feel it appropriate to provide a link to the contents of a release earlier this year that is very specific in its assertions as relating to the potential for global instability and uncertainty represented by China’s known and projected activities. Included in this release is reference to a scenario “Battle of the South China Sea: 2011″ and is described this way: “Initially, the technologically superior and network-centric American military is quickly devastated by the Chinese’ ability to activate imbedded programming in small electronic connectors. This process effectively neutralizes the defense, attack, and navigation capabilities within every system on U.S. warships, submarines, and aircraft. Because Beijing controls two-thirds of the world’s supply of these seemingly harmless connective devices, the Chinese are able to deliberately and strategically infiltrate the U.S. military and industrial base and target four of the military’s primary weapons systems programs. “The purpose of this scenario is to expose flaws and weaknesses within the current U.S. national security apparatus. It calls attention to potential dangers of overlooking current weaknesses in the U.S. defense industrial base and global supply chain. The text also highlights the importance of evaluating assumptions and continually assessing novel events.” Any assumptions that China’s burgeoning trade ties around the globe precludes implementation of long-developed strategies to achieve status as the world’s preiminent military power, obviously don’t know their Sun Tzu very well, and who said in essence, “Economic War is always waged first.” |
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