Between July 3rd and July 12th the Indian Air Force were present at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire for excercise Indra Dhanush 07. Undoubtedly the highlight of the year,  not only for the UK enthusiast but also for the many who ventured to our shores from mainland Europe to see their first ever Indian Air Force aircraft.

44 Squadron IL-76MD K2663 taxies out for departure on 30-6-07

44 Squadron is based at Nagpur/Sonegaon and was formed on 6th April 1961 as an Antonov An-12 unit. The Ilyushin IL-76MD is the Indian Air Force's strategic heavy lift transport and is known as the Gajraj (King Elephant), entering service in 1985. It has a payload capacity in excess of 40,000kgs and a range of 5000kms, enabling it to carry 225 paratroopers.

Followed about twenty minutes later by RK-3451, an Ilyushin IL-78MKI from 78 Squadron

RK-3451 departs back to it's home base at Agra via another stop at Tanagra in Greece.

The Ilyushin IL-78MKI is a tanker derivative of the IL-76MD transport and entered Indian Air Force service in March 2003. 78 Squadron is based at Agra Air Force Station as part of Central Air Command. The aicraft utilise three UPAZ-1 refuelling pods, one under each wing and one on the left rear fuselage below the vertical fin. It is capable of carrying 36 tonnes of fuel

over a range of 3000km. Unlike other Il-78's operated the Indian machines use a mix of Indian, French and Israeli avionics so as to provide a unique, modern and 'Westernised' operating system which includes IFF, TCAS, GPS, ILS and TACAN.

30 Squadron "Charging Rhinos"

The "Charging Rhinos" of 30 Squadron fly the impressive Sukhoi SU-30MKI "Flanker". This twin-seat multi-role aircraft features an all-weather, digital multi-mode, dual frequency radar with a search range of 350km and a 200km tracking range. It can track up to 20 targets simultaneously utilising a helmet mounted sight system. The aircraft has a built in 30mm single barrel cannon and can carry a variety of external stores on it's twelve hard points. As with the IL-78MKI's the Indian Flankers also use a mix of  Israeli, French and Indian avionics.  The SU-30MKI is powered by two Lyulka AL-31FP turbofans with thrust vectoring, which each provide 29,400lbs of thrust. The SU-30 is a huge fighter by any standard with a length of 72 feet and a 48 foot wingspan. With a maximum speed of Mach 2.35 and a 20,000 metre ceiling it rates as one of the most capable fighter aircraft available today. The IAF have 140 Flankers on order, with possibly further orders to follow.

SB 044 heads the line of SU-30MKI's at Waddington 6-7-07

Five of the six SU-30's on the ramp 6-7-07

The focus of each day’s activities was one of air defence, with all the air combat flying taking place over the North Sea. Following the familiarisation sorties, the exercise worked up progressively using a building block approach, from one v one Dissimilar Aerial Combat Tactic (DACT) to two v one and on to larger mixed formations. Both sides were keen to point out that the exercise was not RAF verses IAF, but utilised two integrated forces (blue v red). Wing Commander Prescott of 25 Squadron said that mixed formations of aircraft are unusual for RAF exercises and added an extra level of complexity, as a result they got more out of it. Sorties involved aerial refuelling by both the RAF's VC-10’s and IAF's IL-78MKI's. Both sets of tanker crews had opportunities to observe closely each other’s operations, although this did not include the actual refuelling of each other’s aircraft.

The Tornado F.3 pilots were obviously impressed with the Su-30MKI’s agility with its canards and vectored thrust, however they pointed out that in modern day aerial combat it is more likely that Beyond Visual Range (BVR) weapons would be employed.  Wing Commander AC Chopra (Indian Air Force), a former Jaguar pilot of 2,800 hours, was responsible for planning and co-ordination of the exercise. The mixed formations had demanded a high degree of co-operation and summing up he said; "We wanted to build on last year’s exercise in India and we have been able to meet our objectives. We have flown in mixed formations and now have a degree of interoperability".

Also taking part in Exercise Indra Dhanush 07 were a contingent of 25 Sqn Tornado F.3's from Leeming.

This is ZG780 heading out to start the days proceedings on 6-7-07

Six 25 Squadron Tornado F.3's moved from their home base at RAF Leeming to Waddington, enabling both air force's to more readily share experiences gained during the exercise. Two hundred IAF personnel were involved in Indra Dhanush, including air traffic and fighter controllers, engineers and officers from the Tactical Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE). The Air Warfare Centre at RAF Waddington controlled the exercise throughout, with IAF personnel also being involved. Flight refuelling's (FRA) Dassault Falcon 20's were used as high value airborne assets during Exercise Indra Dhanush to simulate aerial tanker aircraft assigned to the AWACS controlling the exercise. Wing Commander John Prescott, OC of 25 Squadron said they were keen to see how the IAF operated, and were surprised how similarly both air and ground crew from both air forces had performed, and that both had learned a lot from working with one another.

ZG731 of 41 Sqn on its way to play with the Indians 6-7-07

SB 042 follows SB041 and ZG731 on 6-7-07

SB 043 follows on about twenty minutes later 6-7-07

Aerial shot of SB 044

Underbelly view of Sukhoi SU-30MKI

Tornado F.3 ZE254 returns to Waddington on 6-7-07

SB 043 returning to Waddington 6-7-07.

The canards, which are not fitted to the basic SU-30K delivered to the IAF can clearly be seen in this shot.

Followed by SB 042 with its airbrake deployed

SB 103 at Waddington 30-6-07.

This aircraft along with SB 107 are actually Hindustan (HAL) built examples and are known as SU-30MKI-3's

SB 042 departs Waddington during the airshow on 30-6-07. The two AL-31FP turbofans provide an impressive 29,400lbs

of thrust each with full re-heat.