EXERCISE UDARA SHAKTI (Syllabus GS Paper 2 – IR)

Context: Recently, the Indian Air Force and Royal Malaysian Air Force participated in Exercise Udara Shakti 2024.

Exercise Udara Shakti

• About: The joint air exercise was conducted in collaboration with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) at Kuantan, Malaysia.
• IAF participated with: Su-30MKI fighter jets.
• RMAF participated with: Su-30MKM fighters.
• Background: The first bilateral Air Force exercise featuring frontline Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft was conducted in 2018.
• Previous Training Deployment: From 2008 to 2010, the Indian Air Force Training Team was deployed in Malaysia to train Malaysian pilots on the Su-30MKM aircraft.
• Significance of the Exercise

o The exercises strengthen long-standing friendships and enhance defense cooperation between the two air forces.

o IAF will have the opportunity to share and learn best practices with the Royal Malaysian Air Force and discuss mutual combat capabilities.

Su-30MKI fighter

• About: It is a multirole combat fighter aircraft jointly developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
• Based on: Su-30 fighter aircraft, Su-30MKI is equipped with thrust vectoring control and canards.
• Sukhoi built two prototypes of the Su-30MKI between 1995 and 1998.