RAF Eurofighter, IAF Su30-MKI Faceoff

New Delhi, July 7: Much was at stake when, for the first time ever, the newly-inducted-into-the-RAF Eurofighter Typhoon was to engage in aerial combat with a non-RAF/NATO fighter.

The Indian Air Force's (IAF) Sukhoi-30 MKI 'Air Superiority fighter,' currently at RAF Waddington Airbase for the bilateral 'Exercise Indradhanush-2007,' had an opponent for a befitting duel.

The operational part of 'Exercise Indradhanush-2007' began with a series of one-to-one air combat sorties. Both variants landed with their much-touted reputations intact as each side tested their respective potential with their adversary in the air to their limits.

These sorties were premised not entirely on having winners or losers ''but more for their evaluator and training values as encapsulated in the objectives'', said an official spokesperson here quoting reports received from the UK.

Both sides ended-up sharing an enhanced respect for each other's capabilities, both in terms of training values as also combat potential of the diverse aerial platforms.

While the RAF fielded some of their most-experienced and highly-qualified pilots, some of them being very senior performance evaluators in active service, the IAF pilots were a mix of 'young to middle-level pilots' from the 'Rhinos' squadron.

The RAF pilots were candid in their admission of the Su-30 MKI's observed superior manoeuvering in the air, just as they had studied, prepared and anticipated.

The IAF pilots, on their part, were also visibly impressed by the agility in the air of the Eurofighter Typhoon, developed by a consortium of European manufacturers.

The spokesperson pointed out that in today's aerial combat scenarios of 'beyond visual range' (BVR) capabilities of air platforms, it was highly unlikely that any of the modern-day fighters would ever get into a situation that warrants extreme close air combat, as in the situation simulated in the one-to-one sorties.

And with a 'kill' criterion of front-gun ranges being mostly under 1,000 metres and a visual tracking envelope behind the target for only up to a 60-degree cone mostly for most fighter aircraft of the world, the unlikely scenario gets more exemplified, the spokesperson observed.

He further pointed to the fact that while there were a number of counter and counter-counter measures to make the modern missiles, with claims of inescapable parameters, redundant by using 'chaff' and other active/passive measures, a 'gun kill' was invariably a most certain kill.

The pilots invariably begin honing their tracking and combat skills under such close combat situations, he added.

'Exercise Indradhanush-2007,' that nearly runs into midway by the weekend, constitutes mostly mixed missions where RAF F3 Tornados, Hawks and Typhoons are packed together with IAF Su-30 MKIs.

The sorties include combat situations of Two vs One, Two vs Two and upward combinations.

The raiders are tasked 'High Value Asset' (HVA) busting on the ground and 'High Value Airborne Asset' (HVAA) busting in the air with the defensive elements designated to counter their ambitions.

'Exercise Indradhanush-2007,' the first such exercise by the IAF in its 75 year history, commenced on July 2 and will last till July 12. The first edition of this Indo-UK Joint Air Exercise, Indradhanush-2006, was held at Gwalior.

UNI