India and France practice Together; Mont-de-Marsan, July 10, 2019

The French Indian Garuda VI, part 1; Text and Photograph's by Alex van Noye

In a period of more than two weeks in July 2019, the air forces of India and France would train together at BA118 Mont-de-Marsan in southern France. All aspects of modern warfare will be discussed during these intense weeks. The objective here is to make the two friendly countries work together even better.

The Garuda VI exercise is a binational recurring exercise by the French and Indian Air Force that will be held in alternating countries every three to four years. The exercise marks the good cooperation between India and France. The exercise was for the first time organized at Base Aérienne 118 "Colonel Rozanoff" Mont-de-Marsan in southern France in 2019. Mont-de-Marsan has developed over the past ten years into the most important training center for the Dassault Rafale. In addition to the extensive training of the Rafale pilots, experiments with the Rafale are being conducted at this French airbase and new tactics and strategies are being studied. Mont-de-Marsan is therefore an important airbase for the entire French Air Force and its partners. The Garuda training is part of the French relationship with the Indo-Pacific region in southern Asia. The main objective of the training is to improve the interoperability of French and Indian crews in air defense missions and ground attacks. The prepared scenarios were jointly prepared by the two countries and led the French and Indian crews to prepare their missions together. It is then the intention that the missions will also be carried out in mixed formations, whereby one must concentrate on mixed patrol work. The aim is to bring together French and Indian crews and use their different aircraft types in realistic complex and tactical scenarios. This is quite challenging, because a Rafale is a totally different aircraft than the Su-30. In total, this international exercise on BA118 Mont-de-Marsan will last more than two weeks.

The history of the series of Garuda exercises was started at the end of the last century. The strategic partnership between France and India was signed in January 1998 by President Jacques Chirac on behalf of France and Prime Minister I.K. Gujral on behalf of India. The cooperation between the two superpowers was subsequently launched during Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee's visit to Paris in September 1998. The history of the strategic cooperation between France and India goes back to 1951. In that year,

the first agreement between the Indian and French Atomic Energy Commission was concluded. The relationship between the two countries has since continuously developed and expanded and eventually also led to military cooperation. Garuda is the name of the series of exercises conducted jointly by the air forces of India and France. Garuda is a bird animal from the Hindu mythology and is a mix of an eagle with human traits. He is the Vahana vehicle of Vishnu and appears on the god's banner. Garuda represents birth and heaven and therefore fits well with an air force exercise. Garuda is also the enemy of all snakes. The Garuda exercise has been held five times in the past in both France and India. The Garuda exercises were held at the following locations: Garuda I in 2003 in India on Gwalior Air Force Station, Garuda II in 2005 in France on BA Istres-te-Tubé, Garuda III in 2007 in India on Kalaikunda Air Force Air Force Base, Garuda IV in 2010 in France on BA Istres-te-Tubé (this was also a tri-national exercise with Singaporean F-16s which were temporarily based on BA Orange) and Garuda V in 2014 in India at Jodhpur Air Force Base.

Several French units would participate in the exercise at Mont-de-Marsan. The French host during Garuda VI was the 2nd Squadron of the 30th Fighter Wing (Escadron de Chasse EC2/30) called "Normandie-Niemen". This unit flies the Dassault Rafale B and C from their home base BA118 Mont-de-Marsan. This edition of Garuda included the participation of a large number of aircraft from the French Air Force during the second week of the exercise. The most important participation of course was the Dassault Rafale. The Rafales who participated in the exercise came from several units from France from Mont-de-Marsan and St Dizier. A number of Mirage 2000Ds from the CEAM would also fly in different scenarios. These aircraft are capable of being converted into attacking ground targets. In the aggressor role, a number of Alpha-Jets would participate during the second week of the exercise. The role of these aircraft is to make it the Garuda participants as difficult as possible, making the scenario very realistic. The entire exercise is coordinated by an E-3F Sentry from the French airbase Avord. A number of tankers have also been deployed to make the scenarios even more realistic. The Garuda participants often have to connect to the French C-135F tankers before the start of the scenario.

Participation from India consisted of several aircraft, of which the Su-30MKI is the most important. A total of four of these combat aircraft were flown to Mont-de-Marsan. The Indian Sukhoi Su-30MKI is assigned to the 24 Squadron "Hunting Hawks" which comes from Bareilly Air Force Station. These hyper modern combat aircraft were accompanied on their journey by an Ilyushin Il-78MKI tanker. This large aircraft belongs to the 78 Squadron "Battle-Cry" and is based on Agra Air Force Station in India. For support, two more C-17A Globemasters were also used for the transport of materials and men. These C-17s are from the 81 Squadron "Skylords" and are based in India on Hindon Air Force Station. The Indian detachment left India on June 26, and made several stops in the Arab Emirates and in Egypt. The units arrived at Mont-de-Marsan in France on Friday, June 28. The Base Commander of Mont-de-Marsan Colonel Gaudillere received the Indian Air Force contingent upon arrival. The entire Indian detachment consisted of approximately 110 people. The last training day was on Friday, July 12, and the departure back to India would be on Monday, July 15. The Indian Air Force ordered the Dassault Rafale for their inventory and this exercise gave the Indian pilots the opportunity to see their new aircraft in action from very close range. The first Rafale aircraft will be delivered to the Indian Air Force in the fall of 2019. After six months of training, the Indian pilots will fly the first aircraft to India for formal acceptance in the Indian Air Force.