00:00Mr. Sir, 5th generation fighter aircraft has come to participate in the first exercise.
00:05What kind of experience is this, if we talk about this formation?
00:12And the other thing is that it has also been offered to the U.S. in different forms,
00:18F-35, Su-57, Russia.
00:33I think the first part of the question should be taken by that side, about operating with this aircraft.
00:40Second part I will take off.
00:42So F-35 is a 5th generation aircraft.
00:46And in this aircraft, there are no capabilities in the rest of the aircraft.
00:50So when you operate these aircraft, you learn new things.
00:55So in this exercise, when we operate the F-35 with the F-35,
00:58we have to learn new things.
01:01So one of the major take-away was this aircraft aircraft.
01:06And the second portion of the chief will answer.
01:37sir,
01:53What were the key challenges regarding this
01:58Tarang Shakti in data sharing and inter-operating among advanced aircraft from the various nations
02:05such as the F-35, Rafael, Sukhoi-30 and how did the indigenous LCA Tejas perform in this multilateral exercise
02:19and what strategic message was conveyed to the world regarding the Indo-Pacific region?
02:28You talk about data sharing, Chris. One of you two. Yeah, you go.
02:36So the exercise involved platforms which have got different type of data links and different secure communications.
02:43So therefore, what I had covered earlier, we had resorted to common planning processes
02:48wherein we were sat together and we tried to mitigate how can we share data between two different types,
02:55three different types of aircraft who are flying for similar mission and trying to achieve the same objectives.
03:01So, apart from inter-operability and the avenues which were explored for inter-operability,
03:09these techniques to mitigate the challenges which are born because of different data links
03:14and because of different type of secure communications were identified during the exercise for all the participants
03:21and it gave all the participants a good lesson in how to bring such platforms together
03:26when we were trying to fly in a multilateral environment.
03:31As far as question about Tejas is concerned, of course, Tejas has been a part of most of the exercises
03:38now
03:39wherever possible. At least in India, it takes part in all exercises
03:42and when it comes to exercising abroad, we give rotation to various squadrons.
03:48Even just before this exercise, we had the exercise of Veer Garjian with bilateral with the Japanese team
03:57and Japanese chief was here and we flew, flew him in a Tejas trainer and he was all praise.
04:02I think it has come out in the media. So that aircraft is a very potent aircraft when it comes
04:08to its own size and role.
04:10Every aircraft is meant for a certain role and for a given role, that aircraft will do good.
04:16It's a very, it's a, as far as normal flying and normal operations are concerned, it's a beautiful machine.
04:23And as far as Indo-Pacific is concerned, our exercise was not meant to be, you know, projecting anything in
04:30any region
04:31or something like that. We have no message for Indo-Pacific, but if there are some more people who are
04:37a part of Indo-Pacific,
04:38if they want to say something, we have the PACAF force commander here, maybe you can say something.
04:44All I would add is, you know, it goes back to the just building partnerships, building teamwork.
04:52Our air forces are all different. We have different capabilities.
04:55We fly different airplanes. We operate a little bit differently.
04:58But rather than focusing on the differences, we, exercises like this bring us together where we can find common ground.
05:05And as eloquently put, you know, command and control, our ability to communicate with each other is truly key.
05:13And these events allow us to find ways to make that more effective and more efficient.
05:19And this is a framework. It is a baseline.
05:22We don't know what the security situation holds or what the future holds.
05:26We may, some of us may be called to do humanitarian assistance disaster relief, or there may be other challenges
05:32that we face.
05:33But when we come together, we don't do it cold.
05:37We do it on a foundation of teamwork that is established at Tarang Shakti or Pitch Black or Red Flag
05:47Alaska or the myriad of other exercises that take place throughout the Indo-Pacific region where we can come together
05:54as airmen, learn from each other,
05:56and build that foundation of cooperation and build that foundation of cooperation that will allow us to succeed no matter
06:01what is in front of us.
06:03Perhaps you want to add something to that?
06:05Yeah, thanks, Edwin.
06:06I will.
06:09So General Schneider just mentioned Tarang Shakti, Pitch Black, Red Flag.
06:14So there's a continuum around the Indo-Pacific with all the friends and partners in the way we come together
06:21and train.
06:22I think the biggest lesson, the takeaway, is the fact that all of the nations and all the air forces
06:27represented here invest in their people
06:31so that we generate and deliver air power from the ground operations to the air operations with a great degree
06:38of professionalism and expertise.
06:40And so whatever version of English or Australian you're speaking, we can communicate well and we're communicating off a basis
06:49of professional expertise.
06:51I think that's the biggest lesson.
06:54Sir, I want to ask that how much interested were you along with the other partners to know about the
07:00operational lessons of Operation Sindhuur
07:02and also India's use of indigenous platforms, a lot of focus is there on making India now.
07:09India is relying more on its own platforms.
07:12So how much interest was shown by the partners, not only about the skill of India, but the indigenous platforms
07:19and weapon systems?
07:21Thank you for the question.
07:23And when I was here in April, I spent a week hosted by Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh and
07:29the other leaders in the Indian Air Force,
07:31and we did talk about Operation Sindhuur.
07:34And I think for all of us, you know, we learn from each other, whether it's, you know, a unilateral
07:41operation,
07:42whether it's multilateral operations, that we continue to evolve and adapt for the security situation that is evolving and adapting
07:50in front of us.
07:50So, you know, not going into specifics on any of the operations,
07:55but it is of, you know, high interest that we continue to learn from each other
08:01and take advantages of exercises like this where we can bring subject matters experts in to explain
08:07and then find those things that will help us continue to grow so that we can, again, stay ahead of
08:13the challenges we face.
