TOI correspondent from Washington: Elmendorf and its companion Eielson AFB are the bases where India and the US have had their most corroborative military embrace over the years. In June last year, the IAF brought a breathtaking array of its air assets to Alaska, when the shoe was on the other foot, and China was in the US doghouse.
Flying half-way across the world, an IAF contingent, including a complement of female flyers with Sq Ldr Shivangi Singh, winged their way on eight Rafale fighter jets led by Sq Ldr Mohit Tyagi and Group Captain R.S. Sidhu, the commanding officer of the Rafale Squadron. They were supported by mid-air refueling from two Russian-made IL-78 refuelers and a 250+ member crew on three US-made C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, both of which New Delhi has bought.
Neither China nor Pakistan, much less Russia, was in on the exercises, which also had participation from UK's Royal Air Force, the German Luftwaffe, and the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). Red Flag-Alaska, the USAF crowed at that time, "serves as an ideal platform for international engagement and the exercise has a long history of including Allies and partners."
Indeed, Alaska came on the Indian radar (and vice-versa) as far back as 2004 when crew and aircraft from Elmendorf AFB came to Gwalior for the Cope India exercises , flying in on F-15C Eagles while the IAF rolled out its Su-MK, Mirage 2000, Jaguar, MiG 27, and MiG-21 Bison. In less than a decade, as the Bush years gave way to the Obama era, there was enough comfort and collaboration that India sent out the more advanced SU-MKI and even deployed two IL-78 aerial refueling tankers and two C-17 transport aircraft for the Red Flag exercises in Alaska in 2016.
By the turn of the decade, things looked so hunky-dory that Indian troops were also being sent to Alaska for Yudh Abhas exercises, including cold weather survival and mountaineer training. In 2021, some 350 troops from the 7th Battalion of the Madras Regiment were airlifted to Elmendorf by IAF's No. 81 squadron for two weeks of training.
The high point of India's Alaska engagement came in 2024 when India sent Sq Ldr Shivangi Singh and five women officers involved in maintenance and support roles, calling it "a milestone for gender diversity in the IAF." The experience of ferrying long distances while undertaking air-to air refueling en route, New Delhi said, was both an enriching and thrilling takeaway, especially for the younger crew.
Although President Trump is letting the air out of the relationship, with the possibility of torpedoing it altogether over trade and tariff issues, Indian officials remain optimistic that it is a passing phase and US-India ties will endure. Adopting a karmic and dharmic attitude of "this too shall pass," a key diplomat maintained that outside of the trade dispute, cooperation was very much on track in all other areas.
Flying half-way across the world, an IAF contingent, including a complement of female flyers with Sq Ldr Shivangi Singh, winged their way on eight Rafale fighter jets led by Sq Ldr Mohit Tyagi and Group Captain R.S. Sidhu, the commanding officer of the Rafale Squadron. They were supported by mid-air refueling from two Russian-made IL-78 refuelers and a 250+ member crew on three US-made C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, both of which New Delhi has bought.
Neither China nor Pakistan, much less Russia, was in on the exercises, which also had participation from UK's Royal Air Force, the German Luftwaffe, and the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). Red Flag-Alaska, the USAF crowed at that time, "serves as an ideal platform for international engagement and the exercise has a long history of including Allies and partners."
Indeed, Alaska came on the Indian radar (and vice-versa) as far back as 2004 when crew and aircraft from Elmendorf AFB came to Gwalior for the Cope India exercises , flying in on F-15C Eagles while the IAF rolled out its Su-MK, Mirage 2000, Jaguar, MiG 27, and MiG-21 Bison. In less than a decade, as the Bush years gave way to the Obama era, there was enough comfort and collaboration that India sent out the more advanced SU-MKI and even deployed two IL-78 aerial refueling tankers and two C-17 transport aircraft for the Red Flag exercises in Alaska in 2016.
By the turn of the decade, things looked so hunky-dory that Indian troops were also being sent to Alaska for Yudh Abhas exercises, including cold weather survival and mountaineer training. In 2021, some 350 troops from the 7th Battalion of the Madras Regiment were airlifted to Elmendorf by IAF's No. 81 squadron for two weeks of training.
The high point of India's Alaska engagement came in 2024 when India sent Sq Ldr Shivangi Singh and five women officers involved in maintenance and support roles, calling it "a milestone for gender diversity in the IAF." The experience of ferrying long distances while undertaking air-to air refueling en route, New Delhi said, was both an enriching and thrilling takeaway, especially for the younger crew.
Although President Trump is letting the air out of the relationship, with the possibility of torpedoing it altogether over trade and tariff issues, Indian officials remain optimistic that it is a passing phase and US-India ties will endure. Adopting a karmic and dharmic attitude of "this too shall pass," a key diplomat maintained that outside of the trade dispute, cooperation was very much on track in all other areas.
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