Indo-French Air Exercise “Garuda VI” [fr]
Indo-French Air Exercise “Garuda VI” took place from 1st to 12th July 2019 at Mont-de-Marsan Airbase 118.
Paris, 12 July 2019
A part of their Indo-Pacific cooperation, the Garuda exercise took place from 1st to 12th July 2019 at Mont-de-Marsan Airbase 118. This tactical bilateral Indo-French exercise aims at enhancing the interoperability level of the French and Indian crews in air defence and ground attack missions. Falling under the global framework of bilateral cooperation between the two nations, the Garuda exercise is alternately held in France and India.
This exercise saw the deployment of a great number of French Air Force aircraft: Rafale, Alpha Jet, Mirage 2000, C135, E3F, C130, Casa.
Seven Indian aircraft – 4 Sukhoi Su-30, 2 C17s and 1 Ilyushin 78 headed for the southwest of France and landed at Mont-de-Marsan Airbase 118 on 28th June.
The 4 SU-30 MKI belong to the 24th “Hunting Hawks” squadron of Air Force Station (AFS) Bareilly, while the Ilyushin 78 comes from the 78th “Battle-Cry” squadron from AFS Agra, and the 2 C17 from the 81st “Sky Lords” squadron of AFS Hindon.
These aircraft took off from India on 26th June. After stopovers in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, they were refuelled in the Mediterranean by a French Air Force C135.
Two of the four SU-30s participated in the national Air Force meet for the benefit of the Air Force Social Work (FOSA), held during the 29th - 30th June weekend at the Cazaux 120 airbase.
For videos and arrival of the IAF aircraft, see: http://www.air-actualites.com/garuda/
Source: French Ministry for the Armed Forces