Exercise Indus Shield

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Exercise Indus Shield
مشق انڈس شیلڈ
StatusActive
Genre Military exercise
Venue PAF Base Mushaf
CountryFlag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Years active2
Established2023 (2023)
Most recentIndus Shield 2023
Participants Pakistan Air Force & allied air forces
Organised by PAF Airpower Centre of Excellence

Exercise Indus Shield is a large-scale international aerial warfare exercise held by the Airpower Centre of Excellence (ACE) in Sargodha, Pakistan. The aim of the exercise is to simulate various military tactics by enabling participating air powers to maximise their warfighting potential in air operations through synergistic employment of multi-domain capabilities in an integrated training environment. [1] [2] [3] [4] [ excessive citations ] It consists of a traditional "Blue force" vs. "Red force" scenario with participants engaging each other in simulated battles. [5]

Contents

Indus Shield is the largest multinational air force exercise in the South Asian region led and organized by the Pakistan Air Force through its Airpower Centre of Excellence. The last edition in 2024 featured participation from 24 esteemed air forces, [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [ excessive citations ] larger than Indian Air Force's Exercise Tarang Shakti, the second largest air force exercise in South Asia with 12 participants and 18 observers. [11] [12] [13]

Background

Exercise Indus Shield is organised by the PAF Airpower Centre of Excellence (ACE) at PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha. It has hosted many other exercises including ACES Meet, Shaheen and Falcon Talon. ACE facilitates the participants of these exercises with simulating systems and by exposing them to battlefield environments in order to enhance decision making and strategic planning. [5] [14]

2023

The first Exercise Indus Shield was held from 6-25 October 2023 in which 14 countries participated. These included Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Oman, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Morocco, Uzbekistan, China and Hungary. [15] The Pakistani Air chief and Army chief along with the airforce chiefs of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Hungary also witnessed the execution of the wargames. [16]

Dissimilar air combat training, SEAD, BVR combat along with many other strategies were practiced during the exercise. [5]

2024

Indus Shield-2024 was the second edition of the Multilateral Exercise Indus Shield. Indus Shield-2024 largest multinational aerial exercise in the South Asian region, featuring participation from 24 esteemed air forces,adhering to its motto, “Stronger When Together.” [17] Air forces from 24 countries participated in the Indus Shield including, Pakistan Air Force, Saudi Air Force, Turkish Airforce, Egyptian Air Force, PLA Air Force of China, Azerbaijani Air Force, Bangladesh Air Force, Sri Lanka Air Force, Malaysian Air Force, Indonesian Air Force, Oman Air Force, UAE Air Force, Qatari Air Force, Bahraini Air Force, Iranian Air Force, Iraqi Air Force, Jordanian Air Force, Moroccon Air Force, German Air Force, Romanian Air Force, Tanzania Air Force, Malawi Air Force, Zimbabwe Air Force, and South African Air Force. [18] [19]

Compared to Indus Shield 2023, this year’s exercise has drawn the participation of 10 additional countries, making it largest air force exercise in the South Asian region. [20]

The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) has deployed six Panavia Tornado fighter jets, while the Turkish Air Force is contributing F-16s, and the Egyptian Air Force has provided Mirage 2000 aircraft. Pakistan is represented by its J-10C fighter jets. [21]

Indus Shield-Chinese

Indus Shield-Chinese was the special bilateral exercise between Pakistan Air Force and PLA Air Force of China. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said exercise was conducted "separately" with the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) under the Indus Shield-2024, which is ''multilaterial'' exercise involving air forces from several countries. [22] [23] [24]

The exercise witnessed participation from People’s Liberation Army Air Force of China, with its personnel and high-tech equipment comprising AESA Radar and Long Range BVR Equipped J-16 & J-10C fighter aircraft, Lethal HQ-22 Surface to Air Defence system, Potent Airborne Electronic Warfare YTG-9 Platform, alongside KJ-500 Airborne Early Warning system pitched against PAF’s J-10C and JF-17 Block-III fighter jets simulating contemporary aerial combat scenarios. [25] [26] [27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "PAF vision and exercise Indus Shield". The Frontier Post.
  2. ↑ "14 NATION AIR EXERCISE, INDUS SHIELD-2023, IN FULL SWING AT AN OPERATIONAL AIR BASE OF PAF" (PDF) (Press release). DGPR Pakistan Air Force. 15 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "14-nation air exercise Indus Shield-2023 in full swing". The Nation. 16 October 2023.
  4. ↑ "Indus Shield 2023: Pakistan Air Force Leads Mega Aerial Warfare Exercise with 14 Nations". World Echo News. 15 October 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Maqsood, Syed; Jawad, Tahir (21 May 2024). "Indus Shield Forging The Future". Second To None. No. Winter 2023-2024. pp. 79–85.
  6. ↑ Desk, News (24 October 2024). "COAS Gen Asim Munir reviews Indus Shield-2024 exercises". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 12 January 2026.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ↑ "Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  8. ↑ Khan, Bilal (29 October 2024). "Can Indus Shield Raise Pakistan's Airpower Training Stature? - Quwa" . Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  9. ↑ Writer, Staff (5 September 2024). "Exercise Tarang Shakti – Largest Multilateral Air Exercise in India". Indian Aerospace and Defence Bulletin - News for aerospace and defence in India. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  10. ↑ "Historic exercise's cultural exchange, tactical growth ripple back to 1942". Air Force. Archived from the original on 16 September 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  11. ↑ Peri, Dinakar (31 July 2024). "IAF's largest multilateral exercise Tarang Shakti to see participation of over 150 aircraft". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  12. ↑ "What is Tarang Shakti, the largest military exercise that India will host?". Hindustan Times . 31 July 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  13. ↑ Singh, Mayank (7 June 2023). "12 countries to participate in IAF's biggest-ever exercise". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  14. ↑ "PAF's 14 Nation Multinational Air Exercise Indus Shield 2023 Kicks Off at ACE". PAF Falcons. 8 October 2023.
  15. ↑ "PAF Multinational Exercise "Indus Shield-2023" commences". Radio Pakistan. 9 October 2023.
  16. ↑ "COAS visits PAF airbase to witness 'Indus Shield 2023' exercise". Express Tribune. 19 October 2023.
  17. ↑ Desk, News (24 October 2024). "COAS Gen Asim Munir reviews Indus Shield-2024 exercises". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 12 January 2026.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  18. ↑ Desk, News (24 October 2024). "COAS Gen Asim Munir reviews Indus Shield-2024 exercises". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 12 January 2026.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  19. ↑ Pakistan Air Force (25 October 2024). Exercise Indus Shield-2024 . Retrieved 12 January 2026– via YouTube.
  20. ↑ Khan, Bilal (29 October 2024). "Can Indus Shield Raise Pakistan's Airpower Training Stature? - Quwa" . Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  21. ↑ Pakistan Air Force (25 October 2024). Exercise Indus Shield-2024 . Retrieved 12 January 2026– via YouTube.
  22. ↑ "Sino-Pak air exercise Indus Shield 2024 concludes | Pakistan Today". 6 November 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  23. ↑ Ahmed, Saad (5 November 2024). "Pakistan, China hold aerial exercise simulating contemporary combat scenarios". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  24. ↑ "Pakistan, China conclude bilateral air exercise to bolster interoperability". Arab News. 5 November 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  25. ↑ "Indus Shield Chinese exercise 2024 concludes". 5 November 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  26. ↑ Ahmed, Saad (5 November 2024). "Pakistan, China hold aerial exercise simulating contemporary combat scenarios". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  27. ↑ "Pakistan, China conclude bilateral air exercise to bolster interoperability". Arab News. 5 November 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
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