India-Singapore Joint military excercise

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[h=5]India-Singapore Joint military excercise[/h]

New Delhi, Oct1, (TruthDive) After a joint military exercise with Sri Lanka, India announced that a similar exercise with Singapore would take place at the air force base at Kalaikunda in West Bengal. The Air force of both the countries would engage in combined operations.


Republic of Singapore Air Force JMT activities for 30 days staring October 14 will sent 150 personnel, with eight F-16 D+ aircraft, one P STAR radar, and two units of RBS-70 surface-to-air missile firing units, the Indian Air Force will field Mig-27 and Mig-21 aircraft of the resident squadrons operational at the airbase.


The RSAF pilots will also carry out air-to-ground firing practice at the IAF's Dudhkundi firing range, 40 km from the airbase, and will carry out night flying training at the airbase for the first time.


In the Midnapore District in the state of West Bengal, about 130 km from Calcutta is the Major Airbase of Kalaikunda. Established way back during the Second World War, this desolate village turned airstrip is now a major establishment on the IAF's Orbat.
Ever since its reactivation in 1955, Kalaikunda had been home to Mystere Squadrons, Vampires, Hunters, Canberras, MiG-21s, Su-7s, and now MiG-27s. Kalaikunda has a large number of war birds on display, approximately seven preserved. A number of hunter airframes have been noticed lying derelict around the airbase.


It is suspected that at least one Sukhoi-7 airframe is lying around in the airbase. In the late 70s, one Spitfire airframe, which was lying as a decoy, was recovered and auctioned off to the UK Collectors.


Singapore declared independence from Britain unilaterally in August 1963, before joining the Federation of Malaysia in September. Singapore was expelled from the Federation two years later, after a heated conflict between the state's PAP government and the federal government in Kuala Lumpur.
Three years after Singapore had formally declared independence on August 9, 1965, the RSAF took flight as the Singapore Air Defense Command (SADC) on September 1, 1968.
In January 1968, the British had announced the imminent withdrawal of all their troops east of Suez by September 1971. When Britain brought forward its plan to withdraw its forces, the SADC was suddenly entrusted with a huge responsibility and resources.
Britain's former air bases – Tengah, Seletar, Sembawang and Changi – were handed over to the SADC, as well as its air defense radar station and Bloodhound II surface-to-air missiles. Prior to then, Singapore had depended completely on Britain's Royal Air Force for its air defense, while the newly established Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) had concentrated its efforts mainly on building up the Singapore Army. On April 1, 1975, the SADC was renamed the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).


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