Sending its fighters for the first time to South East Asia for a bilateral war game, 10 IAF Mirage-2000 multi-role jets and Jaguar strike aircraft are in Singapore for joint combat manoeuvers with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) from December 6-20. The two countries, which inaugurated joint exercises in October 2004, have held three rounds, all of them in Indian air space due to air space restrictions in Singapore.

Air Chief S P Tyagi, in Singapore on a two-day official visit, called on the country’s Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean and RSAF chief Brigadier-General Ng Chee Khern this morning before proceeding to the Paya Lebar Air Base to observe the war game.

Paya Lebar, the RSAF’s premier air base, is primarily an interceptor base with two squadrons of American-made F-5 fighters. The IAF team is being led by Group Captain S Chhabra.

The last round—of which the current one is an extension—was held in November this year at Kalaikunda in West Bengal, which, along with four bases in the US, two in Australia and one in France, comprise the RSAF’s overseas detachment training bases, and therefore a matter of some prestige for the IAF. According to IAF sources, the manoeuvers will be mixed mock-ups of IAF-RSAF fighter combinations going head-to-head instead of the more conventional one against the other posturing.

“The first three exercises have proven joint capabilities in theatre combat with a certain degree of air space latitude. The exercise in Singapore, with its inherent air space constraints, will test skills in close combat in a more dense fighter environment,” an IAF source said. Getting its fighters out to Singapore is also in line with the ultimate military objective of getting an edge into security in the sea lanes of communication, particularly the Malacca Strait.

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