The Indian Air Force will be conducting Exercise Vayu Shakti-24 on 17 February 2024 at the Pokhran Air to Ground Range, near Jaisalmer.

Exercise Vayu Shakti 2024

The Indian Air Force will be conducting Exercise Vayu Shakti-24 on 17 February 2024 at the Pokhran Air to Ground Range, near Jaisalmer. The last edition of exercise Vayu Shakti was held on 16 February 2019. As always, Ex Vayu Shakti will be a riveting demonstration of the offensive and defensive capabilities of the IAF, spanning across day and night. The exercise will also showcase joint operations with the Indian Army.

This year, the exercise will see participation by 121 aircraft, including the indigenous Tejas, Prachand and Dhruv. Other participating aircraft would include the Rafale, Mirage-2000, Sukhoi-30 MKI, Jaguar, Hawk, C-130J, Chinook, Apache and Mi-17. Indigenous Surface to Air Weapon systems Akash and Samar will demonstrate their capability to track and shoot down an intruding aircraft.

Exercise Vayu Shakti will be a demonstration of the IAF’s capability to deliver weapons with long range, precision capability as well as conventional weapon accurately, on time and with devastating effect, while operating from multiple air bases. Special operations by the IAF transport and helicopter fleets, involving the Garuds and Indian Army elements will also be on display. The army’s M777 ultra-light howitzers will be seen in action during the exercise. Chinook helicopters can carry these 155 mm/39-calibre howitzers, which have a range of up to 30 km, as underslung load for swift deployment.

Mega Exercises of IAF

Later this year, IAF will host a mega exercise that is expected to bring together 12 global air forces, with the focus being on improving interoperability, imbibing best practices from one another and boosting military cooperation among the participating countries. Named Tarang Shakti, it will be the biggest multi-nation air exercise to be conducted on Indian soil and will involve fighter jets, transport aircraft, helicopters, mid-air refuellers, airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, and unmanned systems. This year IAF will also conduct its pan-India and the largest-of-its-kind exercise, Gagan Shakti, the officials said. In the 2018 edition of Gagan Shakti, the air force clocked more 11,000 sorties during the two-phase air manoeuvres that saw the concentration of the air force’s deployed assets move from the western sector to the eastern front in less than 48 hours.