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Thursday November 21, 2024

PAF holds 'Indus Shield-Chinese' exercise to validate interoperability with China

ISPR says exercise has maximised the war-fighting potential of both participating air forces

By Web Desk
November 05, 2024
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and  Chinas Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter jets pictured during Indus Shield-Chinese exercise in this released on November 5, 2024. — Screengrab via YouTube@ISPR
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and  China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter jets pictured during Indus Shield-Chinese exercise in this released on November 5, 2024. — Screengrab via YouTube@ISPR

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has held a "separate" aerial exercise with the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) to further enhance its capabilities to defend the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday.

The exercise "Indus Shield-Chinese", a bilateral module of "Exercise Indus Shield 2024", featured Chinese personnel and high-tech equipment simulating contemporary aerial combat scenarios, added the ISPR.

"The successful execution of such a large-scale exercise demonstrates PAF's joint operational readiness among allied nations while addressing contemporary security challenges," said the military's media wing in a statement.

The exercise witnessed Chinese AESA radar and long-range BVR missile equipped J-16 and J-10C fighter aircraft, lethal HQ-22 surface-to-air defence system, potent airborne electronic Warfare YTG-9 Platform, alongside KJ-500 Airborne Early Warning System being pitched against PAF's J-10C and JF-17 Block-III fighter jets.

It was aimed at validating interoperability between China and Pakistan in the face of contemporary air combat challenges and by simulating various military tactics in a near-realistic multi-domain operations training environment.

Indus Shield-Chinese has maximised the war-fighting potential of both the participating air forces, added the statement, noted the ISPR.

The exercise comes as the three branches of the country's armed forces often hold exercises along with their counterparts from various other countries.

Last month, Pakistan and Russia held a two-week-long bilateral exercise titled Joint Exercise Druzhba-VII which aimed at refining professional skills through joint training besides harnessing the historic military-to-military relations among the friendly countries.

Before that, the Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) participated in a bilateral exercise at the Arabian Sea with US Navy Ship USS O'Kane during the latter's visit to Karachi.