On July 23, the Indian Air Force conducted a "Revenge" exercise near the border with Pakistan. The timing of this exercise is particularly significant. On April 24 this year, Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian civil aviation. After the "5·7" air battle, Pakistan extended the airspace control time twice in a row, continuing to close the airspace to Indian civil aviation until 5:29 am on July 24. The Indian Air Force's exercise exactly took place during this period, which is a clear counteraction.
Currently, the Indian Air Force is under great pressure domestically and internationally. In the context where Trump has already stated that five planes were shot down in the air, leaders of the opposition party in India have publicly demanded the Modi government to clarify the true results of the air battle. At this moment, India is holding a large-scale military exercise, which is actually an answer to domestic doubts, trying to show that the Indian Air Force is not incompetent and can always be ready for revenge combat.
The participating forces in this exercise are relatively comprehensive. The fighter jets involved are all frontline mainstays of the Indian Air Force, including the "Rafale", "Mirage 2000", and Su-30. We know that the Indian Air Force itself is a "miscellaneous" aerial force. This "miscellaneous" refers to its weapons and equipment coming from a variety of sources, including Russian, American, and European equipment, as well as aircraft made domestically. This situation is very rare worldwide. Therefore, it needs to conduct regular exercises to improve its combat capabilities. This year alone, the Indian Air Force has already held four or five international joint exercises. Although this one is an internal exercise, it also integrates the air defense system and information electronic warfare system, which indicates that the Indian Air Force is trying to reflect on the "5·7" air battle and identify what problems exist in its combat system.
The airspace used for the exercise is actually very sensitive. Although this exercise avoided the disputed Kashmir region, India chose to conduct it over the deserts of Gujarat and Rajasthan. While this is convenient for flight training, it is also close to Sindh province of Pakistan, near Karachi and Hyderabad, which are important strategic areas of Pakistan. This is not just a common air force training exercise.
On May 7 this year, the Indian Air Force used the pretext of an exercise to mobilize its forces and organized a large formation of 72 aircraft to carry out an aerial strike on targets inside Pakistan. From this perspective, it cannot be ruled out that India may escalate the conflict between the two sides in this direction once the conditions are met.
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