Cope India Brings Out Fighter Ops
Residents who live in
the Indian city of Gwalior are accustomed to the sounds of
fighter-jet operations -- the noise of takeoff, landings and sonic
booms. But the roar of U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle aircraft in the
sky above this north central Indian air force station is something
completely new. The Eagles and about 130 U.S. airmen are in India
supporting Cope India ‘04 through Feb. 25, the first
bilateral dissimilar air combat training exercise held between U.S.
and Indian air forces in more than 40 years.
Following two days of familiarization flights, the F-15s joined
the Indian SU-30K Flanker, Mirage 2000, MIG-29 Fulcrum, MIG-27
Flogger and MIG-21 Bison aircraft in a series of offensive
counter-air and defensive counter-air engagements. Each engagement
series lasts about 30 minutes over the nearby training range, and
two series are scheduled each flying day, said Capt. Mark Snowden,
U.S. exercise project officer. During nearly all these simulated
combat sorties, the F-15s protect ground targets against advancing
Indian aircraft -- the two will swap roles during one series.
Combined pre- and post-flight briefings set the stage and evaluate
the scoring for each engagement.
“The U.S. Air Force has never flown with or against the
SU-30 Flanker before, so that aspect of this … exercise is
completely new for us. All the U.S. aircrew members are excited
about the opportunity,” Captain Snowden said. “In the
past, many of these aircraft were considered ‘enemies,’
so it’s very encouraging and positive to fly with them as
partners.”
More than anyone here, Captain Snowden has interacted the most
with the Indian airmen during Cope India. The planning began in
September 2003 and continued for several months.
“They are very curious, as we are, about this chance to
fly together,” he said. “We’ve found that by and
large their procedures are similar to ours, but the names and exact
details may be a bit different.”
One challenge for U.S. airmen interacting with the Russian-made
Mikoyan-Gurevich and Sukhoi aircraft is that those aircraft use
metric measurements. But careful exercise planning and the first
set of familiarization flights led to safe aircraft maneuvering
during the engagement series. Another challenge for U.S. crew
members is the subtle language differences. Although all the Indian
airmen participating in the exercise speak fluent English, their
speech is quicker, and the musical quality of their voices is
something American ears here must quickly adjust to, officials
said.
“We’ve agreed to use U.S. communication terms during
radio calls throughout the air engagements since the Indian air
force will be participating in Cooperative Cope Thunder exercise
later this year,” Captain Snowden said.
The Indian airmen plan to take fighter, tanker and airlift
aircraft plus a man-portable air-defense team and ground
controllers to the annual multilateral exercise in Alaska run by
Pacific Air Forces. Gwalior AFS is the hub of the Indian air
force’s operational training and testing and often plays host
to national-level exercises. The station includes the only Indian
air force electronic warfare range, which is being used for Cope
India sorties.
Station Commander Air Commodore SP Rajguru said he is pleased at
the first week’s flying operations. “The exchanges are
very, very frank, both on the work side and otherwise,” he
said. “The United States Air Force is a very modern air force
and has global experience of flying and exercising with many
countries in the world. So obviously any fighter pilot would like
to interact closely to understand their operating
philosophy.”
Col. Greg Neubeck, U.S. Air Force commander for the exercise,
was quick to return the compliment. “The (Indian) pilots are
as aggressive as our pilots. They are excellent aviators; they work
very hard at mission planning; they try to get as much out of a
mission or sortie as possible, just like us,” he said.
“From one fighter pilot to another, there’s really not
that much difference in how we prepare for a mission and what we
want to get out of it.”
While the U.S. airmen are very curious about the Indian
aircraft, the same goes for the local interest in the F-15. Between
sorties, U.S. airmen give operations and maintenance tours of the
aircraft and answer questions from their Indian counterparts.