Indian Air Force contingent reaches in UAE to participate in Exercise Desert Flag VIII

Tags: Defence International News

An Indian Air Force contingent of 110 Air Warriors reached Al Dahfra airbase of United Arab Emirates on 25 February for participating in Exercise 'Desert Flag VIII'.

An overview of the news

• Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) made in India, will make its first appearance at a multinational exercise in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

• The IAF would be participating with five LCA Tejas and two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. 

About Exercise Desert Flag

• It is a multilateral air exercise in which air forces from the United Arab Emirates, France, Kuwait, Australia, United Kingdom, Bahrain, Morocco, Spain, Republic of Korea and the United States will also participate.

• This exercise will run from 27 February to 17 March.

• The objective of the exercise is to participate in multiple combat events and learn from best practices of air forces of different countries.

TEJAS fighter aircraft 

• It is an 'Indigenous Light Combat Aircraft'.

• It has been jointly developed by 'Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA)' and 'Hindustan Aeronautics Limited' (HAL).

• It is the smallest-lightweight single-engine 'Multirole Tactical Fighter Aircraft'.

• It has been designed with an aim to reduce India's dependence on Russia's MiG-21 fighter jets and move towards self-reliance in the field of national security.

• It is designed to carry a range of air-to-air, air-to-surface weapons.

• It is capable of refueling in the sky during the journey and has a maximum payload capacity of 4000 kg.

• It can achieve a maximum speed of Mach 1.8 and has a range of 3,000 km.