• India and Oman conducted a five-day air combat exercise — Eastern Bridge — in Jodhpur, in reflection of growing bilateral military cooperation.

• The Indian Air Force deployed a fleet of Sukhoi-30MKIs, Jaguar and Mirage-2000 fighter jets for the sixth edition of the exercise.

• On its part, the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) deployed its F-16 jets.

• It was aimed at providing operational exposure and undertaking mutual exchange of best practices, towards enhancing operational capabilities of both forces.

• The defence cooperation between India and Oman has witnessed an upswing in the last few years.

• Commander of Royal Navy of Oman (CRNO) Rear Admiral Saif Bin Nasser Bin Mohsin Al Rahbi visited India last week to explore the expansion of bilateral maritime security cooperation.

• The previous edition of the exercise was held in October 2019 at the Air Force Base Masirah, Oman. The IAF contingent comprised MiG-29 and C-17 aircraft. It was the first time that MIG-29 fighter aircraft participated in an International Exercise outside India.

IAF pulls out of multilateral air exercise ‘Cobra Warrior’

• The Indian Air Force decided to pull out of a multilateral air exercise in the UK next month in view of the situation arising out of the crisis in Ukraine.

• The decision to not participate in the ‘Cobra Warrior’ exercise came just three days after the IAF announced that five Tejas light combat aircraft would be sent for the drills from March 6 to 27 at Waddington in the UK.

• The IAF had said that the exercise ‘Cobra Warrior 22’ was aimed at providing operational exposure and sharing best practices amongst the participating forces.

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