GUWAHATI: Following the recent clash with China in Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian air force (IAF) launched a major air exercise on Thursday covering the entire region of Northeast.
The two-day mega IAF exercise involved almost all its frontline combat aircrafts deployed in the Northeast.
The IAF has informed that the last of the 36 Rafale jets joined the force.
“FEET DRY! ‘The Pack is Complete’. The last of the 36 IAF Rafales landed in India after a quick enroute sip from a UAE Air Force tanker,” the IAF said.
The Rafale aircraft has been inducted by the IAF into its 101 squadron of the eastern air command at the Hasimara air base in West Bengal in July last year.
Sukhoi30-MKI is the main asset of the IAF in the east other than the Rafale jets.
According to reports, the IAF has detected enhanced Chinese air activity across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh.
Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a face-off on December 9 near Yangtse in the Tawang sector resulting in injuries to soldiers from both sides.
According to sources, Chinese troops crossed the LAC, which was contested by Indian soldiers in a “firm and resolute manner”.
There were “minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides” and the two sides “immediately disengaged from the area”, the sources said.