Rafale Partners with Reliance

Dassault Aviation has selected Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) as its private sector partner to manufacture the Rafale Combat jets in ndia.   Details are not known but Dassault confirmed the agreement with the Mumbai-based Mukesh Ambani-led Indian conglomerate. It was signed a week or so after the Government announced the Rafale as the winner in the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) friday Jan 31.  n a statement, the French company said: Dassault Aviation, a major player in the global aerospace industry has entered into an MoU with Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s largest private sector company, for pursuing in strategic opportunities of collaboration in the area of complex manufacturing and support in India.                                               

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More:http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories1357_Rafale_partners_with_Reliance.htm

Indian Sukhoi's enroute to Red Flag '08

 Red Flag '08

Philip Stevens reports: Exercise 'Red Flag 08-4' - Russian Fighters over Nevada




Ilyushin IL-76MD 'Candid' (K-2661) returning to Nellis
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 1/500th f.8 -1/3 stop exposure compensation.

Nellis Air Force Base (AFB) in Nevada is the home of the US Air Force Warfare Centre (USAFWC), tasked with training pilots to become the best combat aviators in the world. The USAFWC has at its disposal every aircraft in the air force's inventory with the huge Nellis Air Force Range (NAFR) just to the north of the airfield. Divided now into two zones, north and south, the NAFR is the largest US range covering some 4,700 square miles. A larger area of 14,800 square miles, which is half the size of Scotland, is available for military flying operations. The NAFR contains dummy airfields, unprepared runways, Surface to Air Missile (SAM) sites, Surface to Surface Missiles (SSM), Anti-aircraft artillery and bunkers, in fact everything you would expect in a war zone. The training is conducted with air and ground units of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Many allied nations are also able to train at Nellis, it is vital that the Allied coalition forces as seen during both Gulf Wars, are able to fly and fight together as one seamless unit.


the photos from: http://www.targeta.co.uk/red_flag08-4_indian.htm

Su-30MKI 'Flanker-H' (SB046) lifting off from one of Nellis parallel runways

Sukhoi Su-30MKI 'Flanker-H' (SB042) flown by 20 Squadron ('Lightnings') departs with a with a Litening III advanced targeting pod fitted.

The IAF Il-78 Fuel tanker and Sukhoi 30

All the pictures posted is taken from Shiv Aroor's blog livefist.com; and http://www.militaryphotos.net

The IAF Il-78 tanker at the same foreign base en-route






Two Sukhois refuelling from an Il-78M tanker over Mt Etna, Sicily






The SU-30 and the IL-78 at Lajes Air Field (Azores - Portugal), on their way to Red Flag.