New Delhi: In A First, Japan Sends Fighter Jets To India For Bilateral Air Drills At Jodhpur
"Two JASDF C-2 aircraft touched down at Air Force Station Jodhpur, marking the arrival of the Japanese contingent for the second edition of the exercise": The IAF
NEW DELHI: In what signals greater strategic cooperation between India and Japan, the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) for the first time will be sending its fighter jets for the bilateral exercise with the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be conducted from next week at Jodhpur air station.
"Two JASDF C-2 aircraft touched down at Air Force Station Jodhpur, marking the arrival of the Japanese contingent for the second edition of the exercise,” the Indian Air Force tweeted on Saturday. “The exercise will further enhance interoperability, operational synergy and mutual understanding, reinforcing the enduring bonds of friendship between India and Japan," the IAF said.
Japan is sending three F-2A fighter gets for the Veer Guardian exercise, which will also include air combat manoeuvring with the IAF's Su-30, which are armed with BrahMos missiles. Some 110 personnel from Japan's 8th Air Wing will be in India for the exercise to be conducted from September 9 to 21.
The 8th Air Wing is Japan's front-line tactical fighter wing responsible for defending the airspace of western Japan.
The exercise comes against the back of India and Japan last month signing a pact on maritime security and vowed greater information sharing, complex joint military exercises, reciprocal ship-repair facilities and exploring co-development of naval ships and designs by combining Japan’s technology with India’s production capabilities under Make in India.