United States Air Force (USAF) pilot Captain David Skalicky and
his colleagues from the Alaska-based Pacific Command met their
match among their Indian counterparts during the six-day Cope 2004
Indo-US Air Force exercise.
The exercise, which began on February 19, was the first between the
two air forces involving fighter combat.
The score in the "match-up" is yet to be quantified, but the Indian
pilots were upbeat. Several had a common refrain: "We gave them a
few surprises in air combat. They have begun to respect us, though
we also learnt a great deal from them,'' said one, pride writ large
over his face.
Six USAF F-15Cs were pitted against a range of Jaguars, MiG-21s,
MiG-27s and the "fearsome" Sukhoi-30s.
The exercise was meant to evaluate tactics, training and
operational procedures. No senior officer from either country was
willing to go on record on who scored most points. But some Indian
pilots claimed the "kill ratio" was 4:1 in their
favour.
Air Marshal Ajit Bhavnani, who is senior Air Staff Officer at the
Central Air Command, was more tempered. He said the exercise
concluded with "mutual respect for each others skills" and that it
should not be viewed as a "boxing match".
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_587246,0008.htm
