In a first, Indian Air Force (IAF) will deploy the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas for multilateral air exercise ‘Cobra Warrior’ at Waddington, U.K., which will also see the participation of Air Forces of Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the U.S., defence officials said. The exercise is scheduled from March 6 to 27. “Five Tejas aircraft will fly to the U.K. IAF C-17 aircraft will provide the necessary transport support for induction and de-induction,” the IAF said in a statement. “IAF LCA will participate in the exercise along with fighter aircraft of the U.K. and other leading Air Forces.”
Greater exposure
This edition the U.K. was to host the exercise, so instead of a bilateral exercise, they invited us to join the multilateral format which would give us greater exposure, a defence official said. The exercise is aimed at providing operational exposure and to share best practices amongst the participating Air Forces, thereby enhancing combat capability and forging bonds of friendship, the IAF said. “This will be a platform for LCA Tejas to demonstrate its manoeuvrability and operational capability,” it stated. The IAF would be fielding the LCA in Final Operational Clearance (FOC) configuration for the exercise, it has been learnt. The IAF has two squadrons of the LCA and has placed order for 83 LCA-Mk1A which are more capable than the IOC and FOC variants in service. Air exercise Indradhanush between India and the U.K. began in 2013 and the fifth edition was held at Air Force Station Hindan in February 2020.
