Air Force is scheduled to participate in Ex Blue Flag in Israel and Hop Ex in Egypt later this month

The Indian Air force (IAF) will be participating in exercises with Israel and Egypt later this month. This comes even as increased engagement has been seen between Indian defence forces with West Asian counterparts. The new Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari at the annual presser said, " Air Force is scheduled to participate in Ex Blue Flag in Israel and Hop Ex in Egypt later this month."

When it comes to exercise in Israel, not for first time India is participating. The biennial Ex Blue Flag saw India's participation first in 2017 when the exercise took place at the Uvda Air Force Base in Israel in November of that year. The Indian Air Force participated with C-130J special operations aircraft along with Garud commandos. The Egyptian exercises will see the participation of fighter jets.

In August this year, the then Air Chief RKS Bhadauria had visited Israel and held talks with his counterpart Major General Amikam Norkin, Commander Israeli Air Force. He also flew a sortie in an F-15. During the visit, he paid homage at the Cemetery for Indian soldiers in Talpioth, Jerusalem.

Indian Air Force has participated in numerous international exercises in last one year. In January this year, IAF hosted the French Air Force during Ex Desert Knight and has carried out op engagements with US Carrier Strike Groups in March and June. The Air Force participated for the first time in Ex Desert Flag-6 in UAE in March 2021. The exercise saw the participation of Air forces of American, French, Saudi, South Korean, Bahrain and UAE (as host)