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"In the just finished exercise, IAF pilots shot down all the four F15Es on the first day itself. Both in the offensive and in the defensive sorties, IAF pilots did very well against USAF." According to another post on this board, the USAF dominated BVR combat, whereas the Indians had a 4 to 1 kill ratio in dogfighting. "But, the Americans did not field their F22s or F16s. While F16 could not have done better, F22 could. They may test it in the future. Russians fighting USA? It may never happen. The only other way to check how good the...

According to an Indian news paper, US Air Force F-16s and AWACS are set to take on the IAF during joint combat aircraft exercises to in Gwalior early next year. According to the Indian Express, the USAF accepted the IAF's request during a Planning Conference held last week at the Shillong-based Eastern Air Command. A US Air Force delegation led by Lt. Gen. Victor E. Renaurt Jr, Vice-Commander of the Pacific Air Command, arrived in New Delhi on April 13th to discuss the participation in the joint exercises. The decision to introduce the AWACS in the proposed exercises comes at...

Exercise New Horizons 2004 kicked off here March 27 during a ceremony attended by Guatemalan President Oscar Berger, U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala John Hamilton and other Guatemalan and U.S. dignitaries. New Horizons 2004 is a joint and combined exercise – in other words, one involving more than one U.S. service and forces from at least one other nation -- sponsored by the U.S. Southern Command, working with the Guatemalan government. It's designed to perform humanitarian and civic assistance projects and to exercise related construction and medical readiness operations, officials said. The U.S. service members deployed here as part of Joint...

The dense jungles in the northeastern state of Mizoram will be the setting later this month for a unique wargame that will see Indian and US soldiers training together for low intensity conflict and counter-terrorism operations. Codenamed "Yudh Abhyas 04-1", the exercise is the latest in a series of joint manoeuvres that have reflected the rapidly expanding defence ties between India and the US. The exercise will involve an infantry platoon of the US Army and will be conducted at the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School at Vairangte in Mizoram, an elite establishment that the Indian Army has largely...

Blair to offer Libya military training Tom Happold, Matthew Tempest and agencies Wednesday March 24, 2004 Tony Blair is to offer British military training for Libyan troops when he meets Muammar Gadafy tomorrow. A Downing Street spokeswoman said that the proposals were to show that Libya could defend itself without weapons of mass destruction. Late last year Col Gadafy agreed to abandon his programmes to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and allow in international inspectors. The offer of military cooperation, and the confirmation that British Aerospace are in "advanced negotiations" with Libya, has led to speculation that arms deals...

BERLIN, March 25, 2004. (RIA Novosti). Germany intends to more closely cooperate with Russia in the struggle against organised crime and terrorism, a spokesman for the German Interior Ministry said on Wednesday evening. Earlier that day the German Cabinet of Ministers supported the Agreement on intensifying cooperation in investigating grave crimes with the law enforcement bodies of Russia, Poland and Tunisia. This agreement "will make it possible to speed up the process of exchanging the necessary investigation information, will facilitate taking joint operational and preventive measures and will also expand the possibilities of exchanging the accumulated experience," underscored German Interior...

Joint US India army exercise in Mizoram NIRMALYA BANERJEE TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2004 05:34:58 PM ] KOLKATA: A team of the US army will be at the counter insurgency and jungle warfare school at Vairangte in Mizoram shortly for a joint exercise with an Indian army team in counter-insurgency. A defence ministry spokesman in Delhi described the object of the exercise to be "to increase inter-operability between the two forces", but defence analysts in Kolkata said on Monday that the US army, engaged in fighting the al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and elsewhere, now wanted to gain more experience...

TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) - On the Green Berets' signal, the 120 Malian troops sprang across a thorn-covered sand dune and stormed a mock enemy camp, pouring assault rifle fire into human-shaped silhouettes and an old truck cab. It was part of the U.S.-led war on terror - an effort to head off any chance that the vast and lawless desert of this African nation might become the next Afghanistan. But the start of Thursday's live-fire exercise was briefly delayed: Two donkeys wandered into the firing zone, and a Malian soldier ran out to shoo them away. "Tell him to come...

<p>TIMBUKTU, Mali -- U.S. Green Berets ran mock ambushes Wednesday in the sand dunes of central Mali, where Malian troops fired blanks at a pretend enemy -- and shouted "bang! bang!" when the blanks ran out.</p> <p>The exercise is part of a months-long American effort to train troops in Mali and three other impoverished West African nations where Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida are alleged to have operated. The Associated Press was among the first media allowed to observe.</p>

<p>One oddity of modern geopolitics is that France remains on paper a U.S. ally even while positioning itself at the same time as a rival. So when the French and Chinese navies hold joint exercises, as they have this week, it bears asking whether Paris is again trying to undermine U.S. policy.</p>

France's growing closeness to the Chinese leadership was signalled yesterday when the two countries held joint naval exercises and the European Union said it wanted to scrap its post-Tiananmen Square arms embargo. As two French and two Chinese warships practised "non-conventional security", the EU's foreign policy supremo, Javier Solana, said it was working to end the embargo in an "orderly fashion". The odd wording is a sign of continuing disagreement in the EU about the embargo, imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. Although the drive to scrap it has been led by France, with the support of Germany,...

Well, it appears that France has continued its policy of opposing everything the US supports. This time they are joining forces with China to have joint naval exercies on the eve of elections in Taiwan. China regularly engaes in military execrises or tests when Taiwan has elections. Most notable of them being the 1996 missles tests that forced Clinton to send warships into the region. China has made no secret of the fact that these types of tests are intended to intimidate Taiwan.

As most Maryland residents put away their winter clothes and start their annual spring cleaning, 232 members of the Maryland Army National Guard packed their warmest winter gear and equipment and traveled halfway across the globe to participate in some extreme cold-weather training with Japan's northern army. Members of the 1st Battalion, 115th and 175th Brigades, 29th Infantry Division (Light) traveled to Hokkaido, Japan, on Feb. 12 to participate in a three-week bilateral training exercise with soldiers from the 11th Division, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. Army Maj. Gen. Elbert N. Perkins, commander of U.S. forces in Japan, said the exercise,...

SEOUL: North Korea’s army has accused the United States of staging joint military exercises with South Korea as a cover to launch a pre-emptive strike on the Stalinist country state media said Sunday. North Korea’s army delegation at the truce village of Panmunjom has sent a message to US troops demanding they cancel plans to stage war games in South Korea this month, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The annual joint exercise from March 22 will include 37,000 US troops based here, 5,000 US soldiers from abroad and South Korean military contingents. It will also include...

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin, certain of re-election to a second term, evidently intends to expand Russia's strategic ties with China in military sales and economic cooperation between the two Asian giants. Still, some divisive issues remain, such as the likely awarding of a major Siberian oil pipeline to Tokyo, not Beijing. The United States is watching closely and warily as the former communist allies forge powerful new ties in Asia and view Washington as a potential menace. In Sunday's election, Putin is expected to sweep to a second four-year term and move ahead briskly with improving ties between Moscow...

U.S., Philippine servicemembers dance night away during cultural exchange Submitted by: MCB Camp Butler Story Identification Number: 200431054915 Story by Cpl. Trevor M. Carlee PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan, Republic of the Philippines (March 9, 2004) -- As the orange sun began to set, the music continued to flow and the audience was in no rush to leave. Nightfall did not keep the 570th Composite Tactical Wing Band, Philippine Air Force, from playing throughout the evening during the cultural exchange here. The event was held for U.S. personnel who arrived in advance to begin preparation for the arrival of follow-on forces,...

Story Number: NNS040310-04 Release Date: 3/10/2004 8:58:00 AM By Stacey Byington, Naval Station Pascagoula Public Affairs PASCAGOULA, Miss. (NNS) -- USS Ticonderoga (CG 47) will depart its homeport at Naval Station Pascagoula for its final deployment March 10. The ship is scheduled to be decommissioned Sept. 30. While deployed, the ship will initially conduct counter-drug operations in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and then participate in UNITAS operations off the coast of South America. UNITAS is an annual series of multinational training exercises and operations conducted by the Navy, Marine Corps, Special Operations and U.S. Coast Guard forces...

NEW DELHI, March 6: India and the United States will discuss ways to bolster their defence ties during a trip next week by India's army chief to the US , an army spokesman said on Saturday. General Nirmal Chandra Vij is expected to meet the vice- chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, and US Army Chief Gen Peter Schoomaker, during his visit March 11-12, a defence ministry official said. Gen Vij's visit is of special significance in light of the Indian Army's expansion drive for its special forces, the defence official said. New Delhi is...

BRUSSELS, March 7, 2004. (RIA Novosti) -- Under the aegis of the Russia-NATO Council, the first joint command-and-staff drill in theatre antimissile defence will be held on March 8 through 12 at the Colorado Springs national complex in the United States. The drill is to check the efficiency of the joint experimental concept of operations prepared by the Russia-NATO Council and act out operative interaction, NATO press service said. The on-line computer testing will be done by over 60 specialists from Russia and ten countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. As a result of the experts' practical interaction a...

ABU DHABI [MENL] -- Saudi Arabia has concluded a naval exercise with Pakistan. Saudi officials said the two Islamic allies ended their Naseem Al Behr maneuvers on March 2 with a live fire exercise in the Arabian Sea. The annual exercise included the firing of missiles from naval frigates and fighter-jets. A Pakistani naval statement said the missiles fired during the exercise hit their targets. The statement said unspecified Saudi naval vessels and all units from the Pakistani Navy participated. Officials said the naval exercise included the Saudi naval vessel Jalalat-Al-Malek as well as mine-sweepers and patrol boats from the...