Exercise Orion:
Four Rafale fighter jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will soon depart to France to take part in multilateral exercise Orion at Mont-de-Marsan, an Air Force base of the French Air and Space Force (FASF).
- Exercise Orion is a multinational exercise hosted by the French government.
- It is reportedly the largest ever multinational exercise being carried out by the French defence forces which have involved their Army, Navy and Air Force.
- It includes ground troops, warships, aircraft carriers and combat aircraft and is meant to boost military cooperation and interoperability among participating nations.
- Besides the IAF and the FASF, Air Forces from Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, U.K. and U.S. would also be flying in this multilateral exercise.
- The IAF contingent will include four Rafale aircraft, two C-17, two IL-78 aircraft and 165 air warriors.
- This would be the first overseas exercise for the IAF’s Rafale aircraft.
