India, France, UAE Launch Air Drill Over Arabian Sea

India, France, UAE Conduct Joint Air Combat Drill Over Arabian Sea

New Delhi: India, France and the UAE on Wednesday began a major air combat exercise dubbed “Desert Night” in the Arabian Sea, strengthening trilateral security cooperation and enhancing military cooperation amid the current geopolitical turmoil.

The IAF flew several fighter jets, including Sukhoi-30MKIs and Jaguars, along with IL-78 mid-air refuellers and AEW&C (airborne warning and control) aircraft, from air bases like Jamnagar on the west coast for the exercise, while Rafale and F-16 jets and other aircraft from France and the UAE operated from Al Dhafra air base, sources told ΤΟΙ.

The “major force engagement” with intense combat maneuvers was conducted 350-400-km southwest of Karachi in the Arabian Sea. “Exercise Desert Night will continue for three days. This is the second trilateral effort this year to build synergy between the three air forces and improve combat capabilities, with multiple types of aircraft operating in realistic conditions,” a source said.

The exercise is another indicator of how India is steadily building military engagement with countries in the region, especially the Persian Gulf, in collaboration with other countries like the US, France and Australia.

All such exercises, whether bilateral, trilateral or multilateral, build strategic cooperation with like-minded countries in the crucial Indo-Pacific region, where China’s continued muscle-flexing and expansionist tactics have raised concerns among many countries.

The navies of India, France and the UAE, in June last year, conducted the first-ever trilateral maritime partnership exercise to hone their combat capabilities against traditional and non-traditional threats through a wide range of operations on the high seas.

Under the trilateral framework launched by their foreign ministers in 2022, India, France and the UAE are working together on an ambitious roadmap developed by the three countries in a range of areas including defence, technology, energy and environment.

India and France, of course, have a long-standing strategic partnership ranging from maritime security and defence-industrial cooperation to counter-terrorism and information sharing in the military domain. The two regularly conduct the ‘Shakti’ exercise between their armies, ‘Varuna’ between their navies and ‘Garudan’ between their air forces.

The defence partnership with the UAE has seen a sharp upward trajectory in recent years, with regular professional exchanges, warship visits, staff talks, training programmes and combat exercises, as part of India’s broader outreach to the Persian Gulf region. For example, the IAF now frequently sends fighter jets and other aircraft to the annual multi-nation ‘Desert Flag’ exercise at the Al Dhafra airbase.