The Indian Air Force mega exercise Gaganshakti witnessed a whopping 11000 sorties conducted pan India within about 15 days. 9000 of these sorties were by fighter aircraft.
The Indian Air Force mega exercise Gaganshakti witnessed a whopping 11000 sorties conducted pan India within about 15 days. 9000 of these sorties were by fighter aircraft. During the massive drills conducted along the northern, northeastern and western fronts, the exercise witnessed a real-time coordination, deployment, and employment of air power in a short and intense battle scenario by the warriors of the IAF in coordination with the sister services.
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force mega exercise Gaganshakti witnessed a whopping 11000 sorties conducted pan India within about 15 days. 9000 of these sorties were by fighter aircraft. During the massive drills conducted along the northern, northeastern and western fronts, the exercise witnessed a real-time coordination, deployment, and employment of air power in a short and intense battle scenario by the warriors of the IAF in coordination with the sister services.
According to a statement released by the IAF, during Gagan Shakti-2018, "lAF exercised its entire warfighting machinery to validate its concept of operations and war-waging capability. The focus of the exercise was to check the viability of our operational plans and learn meaningful lessons".According to the official release, the exercise was conducted in two phases so that all Commands get adequate opportunity to test the efficacy of their preparedness.
Phase-I of the exercise involved activation of Western, South Western and Southern Air Commands, with affiliated Army and Naval components. Phase-II of the exercise involved activation of Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Air Commands. Re-deployment for Phase-II involved relocating the forces so as to be effective at the new Iocations within a short span of 48 hours. This was made possible by round the clock operations of heavy-lift transport aircraft like C-17 and IL-76 as well as by employing a large number of tactical airlift aircraft like C-130 and An-32 aircraft.
IAF also used civil chartered flight and trains for mobilisation of resources.During the exercise, all types of combat missions, encompassing all air campaigns, were conducted. Fighter aircraft undertook surge operations i.e. generating a maximum number of sorties in a 24 hours cycle. These included long-range missions with concentrated live and simulated weapon releases across all air to ground ranges in India, creation of Air Defence umbrella to facilitate operation of ground forces and Counter Surface Force Operations in support of Army in various sectors, during both phases Maritime Operations involving long-range maritime strikes with Maritime Reconnaissance support by Indian Navy aircraft were also practiced.
The efficacy and integration of indigenous LCA aircraft and Akash Missile system in the operational matrix of the IAF were also checked out. In addition, capabilities of upgraded Mirage-2000 and MiG-29 aircraft were tested for the first time in an operational environment. All types of aerial weapons, including standoff and precision weapons, were employed to validate their use in the Air Operations Matrix.
Combat Support Operations involved missions by force enablers like AWACS and Air to Air refuellers, Special Ops comprising a Battalion Group para drop, Special Ops with Garud Commandos, Combat Search and Rescue for effective extraction of downed aircrew behind enemy lines, sea rescue and operations from Advanced Landing Grounds. The transport aircraft also undertook mass casualty evacuation missions in all Commands employing C-17, C-130 and An-32 aircraft.
Helicopter missions included Special Heliborne Operations, casualty evacuation, strike missions against enemy formations and Inter-Valley Troop Transfer.For joint operations, lAF ’s joint command and control structures with Indian Army and Navy, such as Advance HQ of IAF co-located with Army Commands, Tactical Air Centres, Maritime Air Ops Centre and Maritime Elements of Air Force etc, were activated.
Army troops and combat vehicles were deployed to simulate Tactical Battle Areas in all Commands and some of the Army exercises were dovetailed with air operations for simulation of the realistic battlefield environment. Ships were deployed, both in the Arabian Sea as well as in the Bay of Bengal, for anti-shipping strikes by IAF maritime aircraft operating from bases on the east and west coast, as well as from island territories.
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force mega exercise Gaganshakti witnessed a whopping 11000 sorties conducted pan India within about 15 days. 9000 of these sorties were by fighter aircraft. During the massive drills conducted along the northern, northeastern and western fronts, the exercise witnessed a real-time coordination, deployment, and employment of air power in a short and intense battle scenario by the warriors of the IAF in coordination with the sister services.
According to a statement released by the IAF, during Gagan Shakti-2018, "lAF exercised its entire warfighting machinery to validate its concept of operations and war-waging capability. The focus of the exercise was to check the viability of our operational plans and learn meaningful lessons".According to the official release, the exercise was conducted in two phases so that all Commands get adequate opportunity to test the efficacy of their preparedness.
Phase-I of the exercise involved activation of Western, South Western and Southern Air Commands, with affiliated Army and Naval components. Phase-II of the exercise involved activation of Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Air Commands. Re-deployment for Phase-II involved relocating the forces so as to be effective at the new Iocations within a short span of 48 hours. This was made possible by round the clock operations of heavy-lift transport aircraft like C-17 and IL-76 as well as by employing a large number of tactical airlift aircraft like C-130 and An-32 aircraft.
IAF also used civil chartered flight and trains for mobilisation of resources.During the exercise, all types of combat missions, encompassing all air campaigns, were conducted. Fighter aircraft undertook surge operations i.e. generating a maximum number of sorties in a 24 hours cycle. These included long-range missions with concentrated live and simulated weapon releases across all air to ground ranges in India, creation of Air Defence umbrella to facilitate operation of ground forces and Counter Surface Force Operations in support of Army in various sectors, during both phases Maritime Operations involving long-range maritime strikes with Maritime Reconnaissance support by Indian Navy aircraft were also practiced.
The efficacy and integration of indigenous LCA aircraft and Akash Missile system in the operational matrix of the IAF were also checked out. In addition, capabilities of upgraded Mirage-2000 and MiG-29 aircraft were tested for the first time in an operational environment. All types of aerial weapons, including standoff and precision weapons, were employed to validate their use in the Air Operations Matrix.
Combat Support Operations involved missions by force enablers like AWACS and Air to Air refuellers, Special Ops comprising a Battalion Group para drop, Special Ops with Garud Commandos, Combat Search and Rescue for effective extraction of downed aircrew behind enemy lines, sea rescue and operations from Advanced Landing Grounds. The transport aircraft also undertook mass casualty evacuation missions in all Commands employing C-17, C-130 and An-32 aircraft.
Helicopter missions included Special Heliborne Operations, casualty evacuation, strike missions against enemy formations and Inter-Valley Troop Transfer.For joint operations, lAF ’s joint command and control structures with Indian Army and Navy, such as Advance HQ of IAF co-located with Army Commands, Tactical Air Centres, Maritime Air Ops Centre and Maritime Elements of Air Force etc, were activated.
Army troops and combat vehicles were deployed to simulate Tactical Battle Areas in all Commands and some of the Army exercises were dovetailed with air operations for simulation of the realistic battlefield environment. Ships were deployed, both in the Arabian Sea as well as in the Bay of Bengal, for anti-shipping strikes by IAF maritime aircraft operating from bases on the east and west coast, as well as from island territories.