Indian, US Air Forces set for Cope India bilateral airlift exercise
14 Oct 2009
AFS Agra/Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii: The Indian and United States air forces will train together as part of the Cope India exercise series during 15-24 October at Air Force Station Agra in Uttar Pradesh, India.
This year's Cope India will be an airlift exercise that focuses on the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission.
More than 150 US airmen, along with three C-130H Hercules, one C-17 Globemaster III, and one C-130J aircraft will exercise with an Indian Air Force Ilyushin-76 Gajraj, four AN-32 Sutlej's, two MI-17 Prataps, and one Chetak Alouette-III.
"The US Air Force looks forward to this opportunity to work with the Indian Air Force," said Raymond Bundschuh, 13th Air Force lead planner for the exercise. "Exercises like Cope India strengthen solid military-to-military relationships with our air forces in the region as we train together."
Cope India participants will exchange airlift, air-land and airdrop delivery techniques; participate in aero-medical and disaster management exercises; conduct cooperative flight operations, to include aircraft generation and recovery, low-level navigation, tactical airdrop, and air-land missions; and conduct subject matter expert exchanges in the operations, maintenance, and rigging disciplines.
This exercise will be the fourth instalment of Cope India.
