IAF Will Conduct Mega Exercise Vayu Shakti 2024 at Pokhran Range

Utkarsh Classes Last Updated 02-02-2024

Exercise 3 min read

The Indian Air Force will conduct mega exercise Vayu Shakti 2024 at Pokhran Range in Jaisalmer on February 17.

About Exercise Vayu Shakti 2024

During the exercise, the Air Force will showcase its air combat and operational capabilities with a focus on interoperability and maneuvers.
More than 100 aircraft and helicopters will participate in Vayu Shakti, 2024. A number of indigenously manufactured and designed aircraft and helicopters like Tejas, Prachanda and Dhruv will participate in the exercise, he said. Air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems including MICA, R-73, SAMAR and Akash will also demonstrate lethality, Mr Singh said.
According to the Indian Air Force, 77 fighter aircraft including Rafale, Jaguar, Mirage 2000, Sukhoi 30 MKI, 41 helicopters including MI 17, Apache and five transport aircraft including C130 and C17 will participate in Vayu Shakti 2024.

The Pokhran Test Range, a key component of India's nuclear programme, is located outside the jurisdiction of the Pokhran Municipal Board and is controlled by the Army. The Indian nuclear test site is located 45 km north-west of Pokhran city and 4 km north of Khetolai village. The test range was constructed by the Indian Army Corps of Engineers and is under the control of the Indian Army.
It was constructed sometimes before May 1974, when it hosted the detonation of India's first nuclear device, following the authorization given to the Bhabha Atomic Research Center by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Pokhran I
- The Ministry of External Affairs named the test "Pokhran-I", but it is also known as "Smiling Buddha".
- This was India's first successful nuclear bomb test on 18 May 1974.
- This bomb was detonated by several prominent Indian generals at the Pokhran Test Range (P Training) army base of the Indian Army in Rajasthan.
Pokhran II
- Twenty-four years after Pokhran-I, on 11 and 13 May 1998, the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) conducted five more nuclear tests at the Pokhran range.
- This was referred to as "Pokhran-II". Four AEC devices and, under the codename Shakti, one thermonuclear device were tested.