Air Forces of India, Malaysia begin bilateral exercise Udarashakti, frontline fighters to participate

NEW DELHI: A contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday left for Malaysia to participate in a bilateral exercise named 'Udarashakti'.

The IAF in an official statement said, “Indian Air Force is participating in the air exercise with Su-30 MKI and C-17 aircraft while the RMAF will be flying Su 30 MKM aircraft. The Indian contingent departed from one of its air bases directly for their destination, the RMAF base of Kuantan.”

The four days of exercise will witness the conduct of various aerial combat drills between the two Air Forces. “Ex Udarashakti will fortify the long-standing bond of friendship and enhance the avenues of defence cooperation between the two Air Forces, thereby augmenting security in the region,” the IAF said. 

The exercise will give an opportunity to IAF contingent members to share and learn best practices with some of the best professionals from RMAF (Royal Malaysian Air Force), while also discussing mutual combat capabilities. 

The first such bilateral Air Force exercise staging the frontline Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft was conducted in 2018. The Indian Air Force Training Team was deployed in Malaysia to train Malaysian pilots on the SU-30SKM aircraft from 2008 to 2010.