COPE INDIA EXERCISE - DEFENCE AND SECURITY
News: India-U.S.
air exercise ‘Cope India’ to begin next week, Japan to be observer
What's in the news?
● Continuing
the military-to-military engagement, the Air Forces of India and the U.S. are
set to conduct the Cope India exercise from April 10 to 21 at the Kalaikunda
airbase in West Bengal, with Japan as an observer.
Key takeaways:
● The
Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to field its frontline fighters SU-30MKI, Rafale
and the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft along with force multipliers, while
the U.S. Air Force is expected to bring in F-15 fighter jets.
● The
Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) participated in Cope India as an
observer for the first time in December 2018 based on the Agreement of Defence
Ministerial Meeting on August 20, 2018.
Cope India Exercise:
● It
is a bilateral joint exercise between Indian
Air Force (IAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF).
● Japan
participated as an observer country in the exercise with the intention to
elevate it into trilateral level in phases.
Features:
● The
exercise has evolved to incorporate subject matter expert exchanges, air
mobility training, airdrop training and large-force exercises, in addition to
fighter-training exercises.
● The
exercise will further enhance operational capability and interoperability
between the two air forces.
Go back to basics:
● The
India-U.S. bilateral Malabar naval
exercise became trilateral with the addition of Japan in 2015 and further
brought in all the Quad partners together with the inclusion of Australia in
2020.
● In
January 2023, India and Japan held the
maiden air exercise Veer Guardian hosted by the JASDF.
● In
March 2023, the IAF for the first time joined the multilateral Ex Cobra Warrior hosted by Royal Air Force
in the U.K.
Reference: Joint
Military Exercise