Rainbow Warriors
In the second half of July 2015, Exercise Indradhanush (‘Rainbow’) was held in the UK, this bilateral exercise between the IAF and RAF taking place after five years. The IAF’s Su-30MKIs were pitted against the RAF’s Eurofighter Typhoons while Commandos of the two Arms interacted elsewhere. This exclusive coverage for Vayu is by Patrick Smitshoek, Stephan van Geem and Remco Stalenhoef. Phil Camp contributes his review of the Exercise where The Typhoons of Coningsby hosted the Flankers of Tezpur.
And Beyond Indradhanush 2015, there was some ‘shadow boxing’ with NDTV quoting the IAF Contingent Commander’s “12.0 victory”, which was quickly sobered down !
During the last two weeks of July 2015, the much anticipated fourth edition of Exercise Indradhanush (‘Rainbow’ in Hindi), a bilateral air and ground exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF), took place in the United Kingdom. With the last such exercise having taken place in 2010, this was time again to exchange current ideas on the concept of operations in a dynamic modern warfare environment between these partner countries. However for the IAF this meant much more, as we soon found out.
Advanced combatants
The IAF’s initial model Su-30Ks had faced USAF F-15Cs and F-16s during their joint exercises, Cope India, in 2004 and 2005. Although this was a start and useful, the IAF was seeking to exercise against an Air Force operating the latest fourth generation combat aircraft to further test the abilities of its newest combat aircraft, the Sukhoi Su30MKI variant. Based on a long standing relationship (the IAF has historically chosen many UK-origin aircraft for its fleet and has maintained continuous ties with the Royal Air Force, exemplified by training on the Hawk AJT at RAF Valley) it was natural that the IAF would want to exercise with the RAF as the opportunity presented itself.
The first Indradhanush exercise was held at Gwalior Air Force Station in India during 2006 when the RAF sent its Panavia Tornado F3s, Vickers VC-10 mid- air refueling tankers and a Boeing E-3D AWACS for the exercise. This was described as “a great experience” by both sides although performance of the 1980s– technology RAF Tornado F3 against the fourth generation IAF Su- 30MKI was quickly apparent. It was thereafter agreed that Indradhanush 2007, which was held at RAF Waddington in the UK, would involve more advanced combatants on both sides. Britain’s Eurofighter Typhoon, whose advanced aerodynamics and intuitive controls and avionics have rated this as the “second- best air superiority aircraft in the world”, was supplemented by the Tornado F3 of the RAF and the very latest Harrier GR9 from the Royal Navy. Facing them was the IAF’s Su-30MKI, the most evolved operational version from the Sukhoi family of Flankers, whose aerodynamics allow unique manoeuveres
and full thrust vectoring. Back in 2007, (the former) Air Chief Marshal Sir Clive Loader, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) Air Command emphasised the importance of this bilateral event, stating that the exercise was an “outstanding success”.
The following Exercise was held a few years later at Air Force Station Kalaikunda in Eastern India in 2010 with an allTyphoon participation by the RAF as the Tornado F3 was being decommissioned by the RAF. For various reasons (mostly because of world events in which the RAF participated) it took another five years to organise the recently held fourth edition of exercise Indradhanush.
The participants
During their stay in the UK the Indian Air Force were scattered over three RAF air bases. Four Sukhoi Su-30MKIs of No.2 Squadron ‘ Winged Arrows’, normally based at Air Force Station Tezpur in Assam, operated from RAF Coningsby where they were hosted by No.3 (F) Squadron flying Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4s. The Typhoon was one of the contenders to meet India’s multi- billion dollar medium multi- role combat aircraft (MMRCA) programme and therefore was an interesting partner in the duel with the IAF. As Squadron Leader Avi Arya, a Qualified Weapons Instructor responsible for training pilots on the radar and weapons systems of the Su-30MKI commented: “Both are fourth generation aircraft and are matched evenly, so the learning value comes from person to person contact, it’s the man behind the machine which matters. All fighter pilots speak the same language, that’s the common thing we have and it’s very comfortable to learn from each other”.
The IAF’s transport support aircraft for the exercise were a Lockheed Martin C- 130J- 30 from No. 77 Squadron and Boeing C-17A from No.81 Squadron plus one Ilyushin IL-78MKI air-to-air refueling aircraft from No.78 Squadron IAF, all based at RAF Brize Norton during the exercise and, except for the C-17A, took part in missions along with the fighters. Brize Norton is also the home base for the RAF C-130 and C-17 fleet which made it an ideal support base for these assets.
Last, but not least, the Indian Air Force commando unit ( Garuds) joined their RAF counterparts of the II Squadron(Parachute) RAF Regiment, at RAF Honington for bilateral training during the exercise. The RAF fielded their Typhoons, an Airbus A330-200 Voyager tanker aircraft and a C-130J. The latter was used for various tasks among them joint parachute drops of the RAF Regiment and IAF Garud troops over the Stanford training area (STANTA) in Eastern England. Because of no standing arrangements concerning mutual air-to-air refueling, the IAF Il-78MKI and the RAF Voyager only refueled their own airforce aircraft.
Different Missions
During their two–week stay in the UK the Indian contingent of 185 personnel accomplished different missions with their RAF counterparts. The four Su-30MKIs at RAF Coningsby began with familiarisation sorties with the Typhoon FGR4s of No.3(F) Squadron to get acquainted with flying conditions in this part of Europe where airspace is more crowded and compact. Wing Commander Moon, commanding officer No. 3(F) Squadron explained how the exercise evolved: “All missions scheduled for this exercise were Air Defence missions both BVR ( Beyond Visual Range) and WVR (Within Visual Range). After the familiarisation flights the exercise worked up progressively, from basic one versus one missions (Dissimilar Aerial Combat Training or DACT) to two versus one and on to larger mixed formations with up to 20 fighters”. The IAF pilots were enthusiastic about the path that the exercise followed: “It’s going well. We’re flying a lot of missions that are proving our air combat missions. We brief on the ground, we go up there, set up the fights and thereafter it’s a free for all. The Typhoon is a good and powerful
aircraft. The RAF pilots are really amazing and flying with the Typhoon we’re learning a lot of new lessons from the RAF which we will take back to India. Of course we’re also giving some good points to the Typhoon pilots,” said Squadron Leader Amit Gehani who trained on the Hawk jet trainer with the RAF in the UK. Missions were flown against each other (RAF versus IAF) but also utilised to integrate forces by mixing up formations. This added a higher level of complexity to the exercise which was said to result in a higher learning curve for all those involved.
Commandos All
A special aspect in a normally aircraft– dominated exercise was the exchange between the commandos of both the IAF and RAF. Operating out of RAF Honington, home base of II Squadron RAF Regiment, both units interacted together and shared ideas on special operations. “It was a busy two weeks” said Squadron Leader Jorden, Officer Commanding II Squadron RAF Regiment before another paratroop drop over STANTA. “Together with our Indian partners we talk about special operations procedures like low level paradrops, which helps diplomacy for future operations. You never know with whom you will work in future world events and therefore it is good to synchronise procedures.” Later that afternoon a RAF Special Operations C- 130J- 30 took off with 40 mixed IAF and RAF paratroopers on board who were dropped in pairs at 800 feet (275 metres) above ground level after the green light in the cargo bay. On the ground the paratroopers ran into (Special Operations) exercise scenario provided by personnel of the Operational Training and Advisory Group (OPTAG) at STANTA. Warrant Officer Mishra, loadmaster on the participating IAF C-130J of No.77 Squadron ‘ Veiled Vipers’ praised the exposure the Garuds were getting in the
UK. IAF personnel in the UK were a mix of six different units randomly chosen after doing an academics course and half day ground school training to check RAF jump procedures. While in the UK, the IAF used RAF Regiment parachutes and the jumps were under control of RAF jumpmasters while operating from a RAF C-130 (only static line jumping). Purpose of the parajumps together was to get more confident with RAF Regiment procedures, tactics and performing on operations together.
Future Exercises
The IAF has been keen on participating once again at the prestigious Red Flag exercise in Alaska during 2016, which will be some eight years after their last participation in such an exercise in 2008. According to the MoD, it has taken the IAF this long mainly because of the financial costs of the exercise, including the long ferry flights to/from the United States. During May 2015, the IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, on a four-day visit to the USA, reportedly discussed future participation of the IAF in the exercise apart from the possible purchase of AH-64E attack and CH-47 heavy transport helicopters. It is learnt that the green light was given for the IAF to take part join the exercise next April in Alaska.
Thus, Exercise Indradhanush could well be a precursor for the more challenging exercise on the IAF’s future calendar. With Indradanush, the IAF sought to demonstrate its ability to project air power in transcontinental deployment of a task force comprising fighters, air refueling tankers, strategic and tactical airlift aircraft in air operations. As articulated by Group Captain Ashu Srivastav the detachment commander (DETCO): “All assets in air operations are present in this exercise. The Su-30MKI is the mainstay air superiority fighter for the IAF, the aircraft renowned for its maneuverability. The C-17 and the C- 130J are part of the planned special operations which will see the participation of IAF’s Garud commando unit and the II Squadron RAF Regiment. Finally, our Il-78 will act as mid-air refueling aircraft thus complementing the operational capabilities”. Amidst the excitement of the aerial ‘battles’, the successful deployment of Indian aircraft using IAF aerial refueling and logistics personnel might well be unnoticed but from India’s point of view however, the significant aspect of IAF’s continued enhanced strategic reach capability may be even more important than the results of the fighter duels in the air.”
Tremendous Experience
Joint exercises such as Indradhanush are valuable for the insights they provide, but are also valuable for the trends they presage. The logistics and interoperability lessons learned by the IAF during this exercise are an indicator of, and a contributor to, some trends worth watching. Multinational joint exercises offer an interesting view of the ‘actual’ operational capabilities of weapons systems as well as national competencies. Indradhanush was an opportunity for both Air Forces to get an insight into each other’s operational philosophies and work cultures. “This will greatly enhance the understanding of both forces to operate in scenarios involving state of the art technologies.” Wing Commander Joardar who was exercise director for the IAF detachment concluded: “The IAF is expanding with new platforms, weapons and avionics. This bilateral exercise was a good way to exchange our experiences and share our tactics. Aviation itself is not that different around the world. The RAF flies similar types of missions as the IAF does. Therefore we both gain tremendously when we exchange our experiences together.”
With both the RAF and IAF rating exercise Indradhanush 2015 as a “big success,” it is more than likely that follow up exercise( s) will be scheduled in the coming year(s).