IAF Western Air Command’s annual exercise gets underway

 The exercise will see activation of all air assets and force multipliers spread across the Line of Control with Pakistan to the Line of Actual Control with China.

The annual training exercise, Trishul, of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Western Air Command (WAC) began on September 4. The exercise will see activation of all air assets and force multipliers spread across the Line of Control with Pakistan to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

“The exercise is scheduled from September 4-14 and will validate the command’s operational preparedness and will see the employment of all the frontline assets from fighter jets, transport aircraft, helicopters and other force multipliers in high tempo,” a defence official said. The exercise will be paused for few days coinciding with the G-20 summit when the armed forces will be on high alert, coinciding with the high-profile event and the threat perception.

Since the stand-off with China in eastern Ladakh in May 2020, which is still ongoing, the Indian military has seen a major reorientation from its focus from Pakistan to China and the IAF has maintained a high tempo of operations. As the Army mobilised in a big way, the IAF pressed in its entire transport fleet and airlifted over 68,000 troops, 330 infantry vehicles and over 90 tanks in addition to artillery guns, as reported by The Hindu earlier.

Last Monday, China released the “2023 edition of the standard map of China”, which continues to show the entire State of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region within China’s borders to which India had lodged a strong protest.