RAAF’s first exercise in India
For the first time, Royal Australian Air Force combat aircraft have taken to the skies of India for Exercise Tarang Shakti.
CAPTION: Flight Lieutenant Declan Foley prepares a 6 Squadron EA-18G Growler for the Royal Australian Air Force’s first sortie during Exercise Tarang Shakti 24, at Air Force Station, Jodhpur, India. Story by Flight Lieutenant Imogen Lunny. Photos by Leading Aircraftman Ryan Howell.
In Hindi, Tarang means waves, and Shakti means energy. The fusion of which translates to harnessing a wave of energy, which is exactly what the RAAF achieved during this historic visit.
Indian Air Force Station Jodhpur was host to the second phase of Exercise Tarang Shakti 24, with Australians forging stronger bonds with participating nations from around the globe – including India, Japan, Greece, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
Deploying with three EA-18G Growlers, the two-week exercise gave aviators an opportunity to train in a strategic setting, rehearsing operations in a unique environment and achieving multilateral effects in the air space.
Australian Detachment Commander Wing Commander Steve Thornton emphasised the importance of exercising Australia’s agile air power capability and building interoperability in the present strategic environment.
“Participating in Exercise Tarang Shakti 24 allows us to train with like-minded partners, working specifically on our ability to solve complex problems in what is currently a contested and congested environment,” Wing Commander Thornton said.
“It’s been really rewarding to work and train alongside the Indian Air Force. It’s given us a great opportunity to hone our skills and cooperate in a meaningful manner across all conducted mission sets.”
Commanding Officer 4 Squadron Indian Air Force, Group Captain Uttar Kumar, discussed how participants were learning to speak the same lingo, both in the air and on the tarmac.
“As India is an important security facilitator in the Indian Ocean region, it was important that we brought these countries together and created an exercise where we can understand each other, understand our processes, and understand the people,” Group Captain Kumar said.
“Our mutual understanding has grown, and we’ve learnt that we can solve the majority of problems simply by talking to each other.”
Flying more than 800 training sorties, including force integration training, close combat missions and intercepts, exercise participants demonstrated their readiness to address evolving security challenges.
On the ground, 120 Australian aviators worked to support aircraft movements and find interoperable solutions for future combat exercise iterations, across the whole support spectrum, including administration, logistics, communications, operations, security, medical and ground movements, as well as aircraft maintenance and servicing.
The exercise concluded with participants provided the opportunity to contribute to valuable lessons learnt, which will be applied to ongoing engagements as Australia continues to support India’s key role in the region.
CAPTION: Members from participating nations gather for a photo during an icebreaker event to celebrate the start of Exercise Tarang Shakti at Air Force Station, Jodhpur, India.
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