India-U.S. air exercise to begin next week, Japan to be observer

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CategoryDefence

Last Updated05/04/2023

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.
The exercise will see intense air manoeuvres aimed at improving interoperability.

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.

It is a bilateral joint exercise between Indian Air Force (IAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF).
Cope India began in 2004 as a fighter training exercise.
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..
The last edition of the exercise was held in 2019.

The U.S. proposed a trilateral air exercise between the three countries and so Japan was included as an observer with the intention to elevate it into trilateral level in phases.
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 this year, India and Japan held the maiden air exercise Veer Guardian hosted by the JASDF.