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(Indian Ariforce) IAF show leaves US forces spellbound (Cope India 2005 Exercises)
The Indian Express ^ | Friday, November 18, 2005 at 0000 hours IST | SHIV AROOR

Posted on 11/20/2005 6:19:39 AM PST by Gengis Khan

KALAIKUNDA, NOV 17: As the Cope India 2005 Indo-US air force exercises wound down today after two weeks of feverish action in the eastern skies, the US Air Force were left with a stark, double-edged realization.

One — that it is no longer the unchallenged leader in the skies, and two—for all future joint operations in South Asia, the IAF would, without doubt, be its natural partner.

Vice Commander of the US Pacific Air Forces Lt Gen Dave Deptula said: ‘‘I have never seen a better executed exercise in my 29 years with the USAF. This will go a long way towards establishing peace and stability in the region. Every single objective of this exercise has been met. It was not the US against India. It was an exercise on how to operate together.’’

Admittedly, the two forces still have much to learn from each other, especially in procedures and operational routines. Both sides said that given an immediate security threat, the two forces now had the capability to fly together in response. ‘‘We will now be prepared if called upon in the future for a contingency, unnamed and unknown. We will be in a position to respond. We can get onto the task of resolving crisis situations together without wasting time,’’ Lt Gen Deptula said. Today, the two sides flew a rare high value airborne asset (HVAA) attack simulation over Kalaikunda, which principally illustrated the cohesive nature of this round of war games. In the mission, the USAF’s E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft was escorted by American F-16s and Indian Su-30s in a scenario where the AWACS was attacked by a hybrid mix of American F-16s, Indian Mirage-2000s and Su-30s. In the words of one of Mirage pilots, this, more than any of the other maneuvers in the last weeks, epitomized what Cope India was about. Air Marshal Fali Major, Eastern Commander, said: ‘‘This exercise simulated a hot war scenario in a conventional setting. It was not about terror.’’

During the last Cope India exercise in February 2004, American F-15 pilots had admitted finding it bizarre that their Indian counterparts had routed them in many maneuvers. This time round, the buzzword was a studied ‘jointness’, though pilots told this newspaper off the record that the IAF had maintained its ‘‘one-up’’.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: allyindia; copeindia; iaf; india; jointexercises; us; usaf
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To: Gengis Khan

China...The air experts here totally missed that point.


21 posted on 11/20/2005 6:42:17 AM PST by cynicom
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To: somemoreequalthanothers

The US pilots probably don't train so much in aerial combat manouvers anymore, which would put them at a disadvantage in some situations.


22 posted on 11/20/2005 6:43:01 AM PST by CondorFlight
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To: Gengis Khan

Don't mistake gracious flattery for the sincerest form. Once the USAF makes a serious initiative to model its training and doctrine on Indian examplars, I'll begin to take any of this hooey seriously.

That said, let's render the IAF their props: tough, capable, patriotic, serious minded.

BTW, do you guys ever realize how lucky you were when the "Land of the Pure" split off?


23 posted on 11/20/2005 6:44:28 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (NY Times headline: Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS, Fake but Accurate, Experts Say)
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To: Shqipo

In international diplomacy you dont say it aloud, it's just understood.

Even your President Bush, now on a visit to China, is trying to come at some sort of understanding with them.


24 posted on 11/20/2005 6:47:42 AM PST by Gengis Khan
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To: somemoreequalthanothers
When you want to sell lots of stuff to someone you don't run around telling the world "Great time had by all, let us know when you want us to come back and kick your a$$ again"
Especially when you also want to sell the same stuff to their natural enemy!
25 posted on 11/20/2005 6:48:58 AM PST by NAVY84
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

I wont say that the Indians have shown you their best either.

"BTW, do you guys ever realize how lucky you were when the "Land of the Pure" split off?"

In what way?


26 posted on 11/20/2005 6:51:21 AM PST by Gengis Khan
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To: Gengis Khan
I think China will behave until after hosting the 2008 Olympics, but after that... Taiwan first, then who knows where. They are going to have 50 million young men of military age with no women to marry due to their birthing policies of the last twenty years. All that testosterone and canon fodder is going to be sent somewhere. India would be a welcomed ally to the USA in keeping Asia in one piece.
27 posted on 11/20/2005 6:59:27 AM PST by Shqipo (And so the great battle starts...)
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To: somemoreequalthanothers
"Yeah, I'm overwhelmed. /s"

You know how cowboys vs. Indians usually turns out...
28 posted on 11/20/2005 7:05:28 AM PST by RightOnTheLeftCoast (You're it)
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To: Gengis Khan
In what way?

India has a future.

29 posted on 11/20/2005 7:05:42 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (NY Times headline: Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS, Fake but Accurate, Experts Say)
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To: starfish923

"that it is no longer the unchallenged leader in the skies" translates to "Give us the F-22 or we'll keep losing to make a point"


30 posted on 11/20/2005 7:15:20 AM PST by Bogey78O (<thinking of new tagline>)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Well a country that has no future and nothing to lose is sending in Mujahideens by thousands, and as an insurance against Indian retaliation, has aquired nuke tech (from China) and long range missiles from (NK) and now has them pointed towards India. How lucky is that?


31 posted on 11/20/2005 7:15:53 AM PST by Gengis Khan
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To: somemoreequalthanothers

I saw that same show. The pilots of the FA/22 won dogfights against 5 other fighters. Basically, due to the stealth and latest radar/avionics, the FA/22 could blow the other planes out of the sky before they even knew it was there.


32 posted on 11/20/2005 7:17:57 AM PST by AmericaUnited
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To: jimtorr
I'll let The Indian Express have the bragging rights, though. The USAF has nothing to prove.

Exactly.

33 posted on 11/20/2005 7:23:58 AM PST by 11Bush
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To: AmericaUnited

Cope-India 2005.

34 posted on 11/20/2005 7:25:00 AM PST by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: NAVY84
When you want to sell lots of stuff to someone you don't run around telling the world "Great time had by all, let us know when you want us to come back and kick your a$$ again"
Especially when you also want to sell the same stuff to their natural enemy!

So true. Of course!
The same thing goes when selling clothes. To an oldie wearing hiphuggers: "You look marvelous, simply marvelous!" Billy Crystal doing Ricardo Montalban.
I think, however, that the thread poster took it seriously. Most of us responded with the standard, knee-jerk flippancy. Harhar, me included, of course.
You are THOROUGHLY correct.

35 posted on 11/20/2005 7:29:55 AM PST by starfish923 ( It's never right to do wrong. Socrates)
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To: AmericaUnited
I saw that same show. The pilots of the FA/22 won dogfights against 5 other fighters. Basically, due to the stealth and latest radar/avionics, the FA/22 could blow the other planes out of the sky before they even knew it was there.

Do you happen to have a photo of this new wunderkind?
It sounds awesome.

36 posted on 11/20/2005 7:32:03 AM PST by starfish923 ( It's never right to do wrong. Socrates)
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To: Gengis Khan
We had the same problem with a similarly delusional ideology for fifty years. (Seventy years, if you count the fact that Lenin saw the United States as the main ideological enemy as early as the 1920's.) I think you're better off with them on the outside pissing in, than with them on the inside fouling your nest (to risk mixing a metaphor).

I believe that Indians will remain resolute, levelheaded and realistic. Realism generally outlasts fanaticism. Realists never promise paradise, fanatics never deliver on their promises.
37 posted on 11/20/2005 7:34:17 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (NY Times headline: Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS, Fake but Accurate, Experts Say)
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To: Gengis Khan

Oh, great. How long before the Indian Frankenstein turns on us?


38 posted on 11/20/2005 7:35:12 AM PST by IronJack
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
Realists never promise paradise, fanatics never deliver on their promises.

Good one!

39 posted on 11/20/2005 7:37:20 AM PST by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: SIDENET
I would have loved to have been part of this exercise....

Unless you are command and control or perhaps a pilot, the people involved in these excersizes don't usually see much. I was a microwave radio tech, and my orders usually went something like..."You guys go to these coordinates(usually a hilltop) and set up a link with these freqs over to that hilltop over there. You will need to set up a defensive perimeter, as we may or may not send up an Opposition Force to neutralize you."

Then we would sit there for 2 weeks playing cards. Once in awhile we even saw an airplane. It was probably either protecting us or taking us out (we usually didn't even know until after the excersize.)

40 posted on 11/20/2005 7:46:10 AM PST by NeonKnight (<p>)
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