Article Posted on : - Jun 02, 2014

The Rafale fighter of France.

JODHPUR (PTI): Four French Rafale fighter jets and a contingent of about 70 French Air Force personnel have landed at the Jodhpur airbase in Rajasthan to participate in the 10-day long joint air exercise "Garuda-5" with the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The air exercise, expected to be attended by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, kick starts at the Jodhpur airbase on June 2.

The two air forces would be engaged in various missions ranging from close combat engagement of large forces, slow mover protection, and protecting and engaging high-value aerial assets in the exercise at the strategic airbase near Indo-Pak border.

The air exercise will include four Rafale multirole fighter aircraft and one air refueler that will participate with IAF's multirole Su-30MKI, four MiG-27 and four MiG-21 (BISON) aircraft.

The chiefs of both the air forces will be flying the Rafale and Su-30MKI.

The objective of the exercise is to acquaint the fighter pilots of the two countries with the fighter tactics of each other, air-to-air refuelling, cross-servicing of a common type between ground crews and understanding basic concepts of each country's fighter operations, defence sources said.