Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) commenced its a 10-day mega exercise on April 1 to test its capabilities and preparedness for high-intensity operations. During the exercise, known as ‘Gagan Shakti-2024,’ the IAF will mobilise all its bases and assets across the country.
According to an official statement, the Indian Army will provide logistics support for the mega exercise, facilitating a comprehensive pan-India movement of approximately 10,000 IAF personnel and ammunition in order to validate the Operational Rail Mobilisation Plan (ORMP) aspects of the IAF.
The exercise is being conducted at various locations across the country, including the Pokhran Field Firing Range in Jaisalmer.
The impending wargames are expected to highlight network-centric operations, incorporating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and swarm drones, in line with evolving combat doctrines. It was last held in 2018, during which the IAF completed over 11,000 sorties during the two-phase air manoeuvres.
The latest drills follow the Vayu Shakti-2024 exercise, conducted on February 17 at the Pokhran air-toground range near Jaisalmer, where the IAF deployed its frontline assets, including the Rafale fighter jets, Mirage-2000s, Sukhoi-30 MKIs, Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), Jaguars, Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, Apache attack helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and surface-to-air missile systems.
This year’s Vayu Shakti was followed by the tri-services Bharat Shakti exercise, which was witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Pokhran on March 12. The integrated tri-services ‘live fire and manoeuvre’ exercise displayed how the Indian military plans to leverage its indigenous capabilities for dominating the battlefield and crushing any threat to national security.
