IAF versus USAF

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IAF versus USAF; F-16s vs Su-30s in air combat exercise
Tweet Topic Started: Nov 12 2005, 11:58 AM (827 Views)
Kampilan	Nov 12 2005, 11:58 AM Post #1
Member Posts: 215 Group: Regulars Member #19 Joined: July 13, 2004	American, Indian Airmen ‘mix it up’ by Capt. John Redfield Cope India Public Affairs 11/10/2005 - KALAIKUNDA AIR STATION, India (AFPN) -- For the first time, U.S. pilots faced the Indian Air Force’s most advanced, and newest, fighter -- the Su-30 MKI -- during an exercise Cope India 06 mission here. F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots Capt. Martin “Gabby” Mentch and 1st Lt. Robert “Pipes” Stimpson were the first to mix it up with the Su-30s Nov. 9. The Airmen, deployed here with the 13th Fighter Squadron from Misawa Air Base, Japan, flew against the new jets, which have a thrust-vector capability and updated avionics. The MKI “is an amazing jet that has a lot of maneuverability,” an essential trait when fighters fly within visual range of their enemy during combat missions, Captain Mentch said. The American fighters are also squaring off against an older version of the Su-30 Flanker during the exercise, which runs through Nov. 19. The Indians are also flying the MiG-21 Fishbed, MiG-27 Flogger, MiG-29 Fulcrum and Mirage 2000 against U.S. Airmen participating in the exercise. With all these different types of aircraft, the training the pilots are getting here is invaluable, said Lt. Col. Hugh “Hef” Hanlon, the Misawa squadron commander. “Flying against dissimilar aircraft gives us a different level of training than if we were back home just flying against ourselves,” he said. Colonel Hanlon also said flying against the Indian aircraft is a thrill. “In all my 18 years in the Air Force, I’ve dreamed of going up against these aircraft,” he said. In addition to the initial MKI-F-16 encounter, the exercise has another piece of history to it. Americans are learning from their Indian counterparts that this is the first time U.S. Airmen have operated from here since World War II. Back then, Army Air Forces pilots flew supply missions from here. Many of those missions were to China, over “the hump” of the Himalaya Mountains. About 250 U.S. Airmen from throughout the Pacific region are participating in the exercise, which Colonel Hanlon said is “a once in a lifetime opportunity.” "We’re proud to represent the Air Force and the United States of America,” he said. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123012868 The Indian fighter jocks taught the Americans valuable lessons in aerial combat in a previous version of Cope India. Wish we can join up someday with our Gripens or F-16PIs <sigh>



Frenzy	Nov 12 2005, 12:25 PM Post #2
Member Posts: 1,251 Group: Regulars Member #78 Joined: August 11, 2004	Beautiful birds Pictures courtesy of acig.org



Wushu	Nov 17 2005, 11:32 AM Post #3
Member Posts: 607 Group: Regulars Member #494 Joined: June 24, 2005	any stats like kill ratios? :thumb:



Aerocobra	Nov 17 2005, 01:11 PM Post #4
Member Posts: 138 Group: Regulars Member #44 Joined: July 30, 2004	Unurprisingly, kill stats are hush-hush in the current iteration of the exercise after that huge (and mostly exaggerated) brouhaha over the 'defeat' of the US fighters in the previous exercises...



spiderweb6969	Nov 20 2005, 12:08 PM Post #5
Posts: 2,700 Group: Elite Member #427 Joined: April 11, 2005	US pilots get 'surprises' from India's ageing MiG-21s Rezaul H. Laskar, Kalaikunda (West Bengal): US Air Force pilots flying sophisticated F-16 jets were in for a few "surprises" when they squared off with their Indian counterparts in ageing MiG-21 fighters during an exercise at an airbase here. Though senior Indian and US officials were at pains Thursday to emphasise Cope India 05 - the largest air force exercise between the two sides - was all about cooperation and not competition, others privately admitted the US pilots were often "amazed" by the performance of the Indians. The nearly two-week-long wargame that began Nov 7 sparked angry demonstrations from Left parties opposed to New Delhi's growing military ties with Washington, but US and Indian pilots were unconcerned with such protests, focusing instead on training for possible joint missions in future. Gen. D. Deptula, vice commander of the US Pacific Air Force, said the manoeuvres - which featured 12 F-16s flying alongside 26 Indian jets, including Su-30s, MiG-21s, MiG-29s and Mirage 2000s - led to increased mutual understanding that would help both countries respond to "unnamed and unknown" contingencies. "As these unknown contingencies pop up, we can respond better without wasting time," Deptula told a news briefing. Deptula and Air Marshal Fali Major, chief of the Indian Air Force's (IAF) Eastern Command, insisted that "kills" or successes during combat missions during Cope India 05 were not tallied or reported, but other officials from both sides privately said the Indians had often surprised the American pilots. Major merely noted that the "home grown ingenuity and skill of IAF pilots has earned respect from different nations", but some Indian pilots admitted the performance of the ageing but refurbished MiG-21s had "dumbfounded" the Americans. "This happened despite the fact that the Americans had an AWACS (airborne warning and control system) with them and we had little experience of operating in an AWACS environment," said an IAF pilot who did not want to be named. Deptula brushed aside protests against the exercise by the Left parties that rule West Bengal state, remarking that the US and India were democracies whose militaries had to protect the rights of expression of all sections of society. "That's what this is all about - protecting the people's right to articulate their feelings," he said. Lt. Col. Pete Bastien, a fighter controller on the US E3Sentry AWACS sent from Japan for the exercise, had plenty of praise for India's Su-30 multi-role jets. "We had never flown in India and we had never operated with the IAF. The page was blank and we learnt a lot during this exercise," he said. Capt. Ben Mosley, an F-16 pilot, was more forthright. "We're very proud to be allies with India and happy that we will work with the IAF," he said after a few training sorties with the Su-30s. Cope India 05 also marked the return of US forces to Kalaikunda after nearly 60 years - the airbase was created specifically for US Army Air Force pilots to ferry supplies to China over the "hump" of the Himalayas during World War II. The IAF recently refurbished the airbase for use in future joint exercise with foreign countries. It will also be "hired" by the Singapore Air Force early next year for training exercises, officials said.



Wushu	Nov 21 2005, 11:07 AM Post #6
Member Posts: 607 Group: Regulars Member #494 Joined: June 24, 2005	that's one way for the paf to earn money and get some training.... offer our airbases as training ground and our pilots to act as aggressors for a fee..... if we HAD planes



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