Operation Indradhanush: Indian Air Force defeats RAF 12-0 in two-week exercise

By NewsGram Staff Writer

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has claimed the better of The Royal Air Force in a two-week exercise which gave British pilots a rare chance to go up against some of the latest Russian-designed fighter jets.

Four of India's fleet of Russian-designed SU-30MKI Flanker fighter aircrafts were pitted against RAF's Typhoon FGR4 fighter planes in Lincolnshire in the operation named Indradhanush.

The exercise came in the wake of deployment of RAF fighter planes in the Baltic to stem the Ukraine conflict aggravated by Russian bombers off the British coastline.

What the RAF officers thought would be a relishing exercise turned into a humiliating episode as their Indian counterparts publicly declared a resounding 12-0 victory over the UK opponents.

As IAF Group Captain Ashu Srivastav claimed victory over the British aircraft during close-range dogfights, an RAF officer defended by labeling his claim "comical".

The Indian media said that "the IAF aircraft was able to defeat the more advanced RAF Typhoon aircraft not only in one-on-one combat, but also in situations where one IAF pilot was pitted against two Typhoons".

"There must have been some clouded recollection on the flights back to India, as the headlines of the Indian press bear no relation to the results of the tactical scenarios completed on the exercise in any shape or form", said an RAF source to The Independent.

"Our analysis does not match what has been reported, RAF pilots and the Typhoon performed well throughout the exercise with and against the Indian Air Force. Both [forces] learnt a great deal from the exercise and the RAF look forward to the next opportunity to train alongside the IAF", the source further added.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the RAF's fast jet fleet is set to shrink to its smallest size in history by the end of the decade. Furthermore, the fleet is stretched to the limit while carrying out operations in the Middle East and the Baltic.