In recent years, the United States and India have frequently conducted a number of military exercises, including bilateral, multilateral, and multi-level large-scale exercises, as well as small-scale but highly targeted exercises, with the intention of enhancing the interoperability and joint combat capabilities of the two countries through tactical and tactical exercises. There is no doubt that the integration of the US military's advanced equipment and tactical tactics will also help enhance the combat capability of the Indian army.
1. Create a three-dimensional mountain combat mode of networked coordination
India's own land border terrain is complex and mainly highlands and mountains, so India has attached great importance to its mountain combat capacity building for many years, and the US Army has also conducted joint exercises with the Indian Army in the highlands and mountainous areas on many occasions. For example, the U.S. and Indian armies conducted joint exercises in the highlands and mountainous areas in August and November 2022 respectively.
Chart: 2022 U.S.-India Highland Mountain Joint Exercise
Combing and analysis can be seen to:
The U.S.-India exercise deployed airborne elites and mountain combat elites respectively, focusing on the ability to coordinate operations in high-altitude and alpine environments in conventional and unconventional combat scenarios.
The November exercise was conducted at an altitude of more than 2,700 to 3,000 meters, with a joint command post exercise as the focus of the battalion-scale exercise, in which the US Airborne Forces cooperated with the Indian Army's mountain combat units to carry out air-ground coordination, fixed-point killing, unarmed terrain operations, and integrated combat training, and honed advanced combat skills through interoperability training and field training exercises, of which the field training exercises also involved "the establishment and operation of surveillance grids," mountain combat training, and training in unfavorable terrain and climatic conditions Personnel evacuation and combat medical assistance, as well as drone and anti-drone operations.
As the exercise area gets closer to the disputed border between China and India, it is clear that it is no longer a joint training in the ordinary sense, and its hypothetical hostility is quite obvious.
It can be seen that the United States and India are strengthening joint training on interoperability between the two countries in high-altitude and cold regions, etc., and the U.S. military combines its advanced equipment and high-altitude combat technology with India's high-altitude combat tactics and strategies, and in the "War Readiness-2022", it dispatched airborne elite troops and unmanned aerial vehicle platforms with the intention of creating a networked and coordinated three-dimensional mountain combat model. This will not only enhance the combat experience and air-ground integration combat capability of the two armies in the alpine mountains, combined with the United States' plan to send 31 MQ-9B UAVs to India before March 2024, and will allocate 8 UAVs to the Indian Army. Defensive anti-air warfare and airborne early warning will also improve its fire support capabilities in highland areas.
2. Enhance the strategic combat capability of the Indian Air Force
In addition to joint exercises in the high mountains, the US and Indian air forces have also conducted joint air exercises from time to time for many years. For example, in April 2023, the joint air exercise "Cope India-2023" was held in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. The air forces of the two countries dispatched a total of 24 fighter jets, 8 transport planes and 2 bombers, with about 564 participants in the exercise.
Chart: Joint air exercise Cope India 2023
Combined with the various aircraft types dispatched by the two countries in this exercise and the content of the exercise, it can be seen that:
The Indian Air Force dispatched its most advanced third-generation and a half-generation fighter -- Rafale, the most equipped fighter -- Su-30MKI -- and domestically produced fighter -- "Tejas " -- elite fighters, as well as various types of combat support aircraft, obviously to make full use of the US Air Force's exercise with the world's leading strength to test the technical and tactical level of its relevant personnel and equipment and enhance its combat capability.
The simultaneous appearance of the B-1B and the support aircraft was clearly training for long-range strike scenarios, which also highlighted the offensive nature of the exercise. Considering that India is not equipped with any long-range bombers, its fighters may have the opportunity to provide escort for the B-1B in the future.
Considering that the air combat phase of the "India Cooperation" exercise usually involves different air combat training (DACT), it is likely that the US Air Force's B-1B and F-15E will engage in simulated air engagements with Indian Air Force fighters who are at least partially involved in the exercise.
In recent years, India has intensified the deployment of radar and fighter groups along the Line of Actual Control, especially in the Ladakh region, including the strategic deployment of Rafale, Su-30MKI and MiG-29 fighters in forward positions to strengthen the real-time monitoring of our army's air activities, and focus on improving strategic airlift capabilities to achieve rapid deployment of radar and ground-to-air guidance systems.
In this exercise, US bombers, fighters, combat support aircraft and Indian Air Force fighters, The joint use of combat support aircraft, especially the joint exercise between Indian combat aircraft and the B-1B and F-15E deployed by the US military in the Pacific, obviously gives the Indian Air Force an opportunity to practice defensive tactics for long-range strikes that may be launched in a large-scale confrontation in the future, and is conducive to enhancing the cohesion of India's existing fighter planes and support aircraft in the combat operations of these air forces, and this is directly related to the further enhancement of the combat capability and strategic airlift capability of the fighters deployed near the Line of Actual Control.
To sum up, it can be seen that the U.S. military has rarely dispatched highly effective airborne troops and drones to the Ladakh region, which is only a few dozen kilometers away from the Sino-Indian border, and while creating a networked and coordinated three-dimensional mountain combat mode with the Indian army, it may also be paving the way for the U.S. military to carry out relevant layouts in the region and intervene in the regional situation in the futureThe first joint air operations exercise between the U.S. military and Indian fighter jets and support aircraft was to help India practice long-range strike and defense tactics, as well as air engagements, and strengthen the compatibility between the air forces and forces of the two countries based on the superiority of the two air forces. (Beijing Lande Information Technology***.)