Pokhran (Thar Desert), Dec 9 (IRNA-PTI) — Flying skills and marksmanship of the country’s air warriors in their killer flying machines came alive over the skies here as the Indian Air Force gave an awesome display of its fighting prowess and capability.
Fifty aircraft comprising country’s frontline fighters like Sukhoi-30’s, Mirage 2000, ground attack Mig-27 and recently upgraded Mig-21 Bisons and Helicopter gunships went into action making the vast desert sands lit up with fire, fury and smoke.
This was the first live firepower display by the IAF in last three years and the force which with each passing year is increasing its lethality put on show for the first time its stand off capability, precision bombing and laser guided attacks.
Air warriors, in the presence of Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Air Chief Fali Homi Major, Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and other top services brass, pounded and blasted away wide range of targets as they displayed attacks on mock enemy radar sites, troop concentration, ammunition dumps convoys and petrol and oil depots.
The sprawling range, in the arid Rajasthan, where India carried out its nuclear tests in 1998 is home to IAF’s largest air to ground weapons firing facility and it was here Saturday that the air warriors showcased their flying skills which recently have won them acclaim from Foreign air forces.
In the firepower display, the Indian Air Force showcased Air to Air Combat, counter air operations against enemy airfields and strategic installations and counter surface operations including battlefield interdictions and battlefield air strikes.