Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat will be flying in a French Rafale fighter in the ongoing Indo-French wargames Desert Knight-21 on Thursday, reported ANI.

Indian Air Force officials said, “The CDS would be briefed about the wargames and how the joint exercise would be enhancing interoperability between the air forces of the two countries.” 

Rawat will not only undertake operational briefing, but also fly for almost one hour to be familiarised with the jet. 

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The Indian Air Force began the first major international wargames with their French counterparts that involved the Rafale Fighters on Wednesday.

Four French Rafale fighters landed in Jodhpur following a four-hour flight from the Djibouti airbase using their A-330 multirole tanker transport aircraft as part of the first edition of the exercise Desert Knight-21.

Exercise Desert Knight-21 involves being at the Jodhpur Air Force Station from January 20 to January 24 this year.

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The French aircrafts taking part in the exercise are Rafale, Airbus A-330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), A-400M Tactical Transport aircraft along with approximately 175 personnel.

On the other hand, the Indian aircrafts participating are  Rafale, Mirage 2000, IL-78 Flight Refuelling Aircraft, Su-30 MKI, Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) and AEW&C aircraft.

The Indian Air Force and the French Air and Space Force have held six editions of air exercises named ‘Garuda’, with the latest being in 2019 at Air Force Base Mont-de-Marsan in France.