Shaheen XI exercises to go a long way: air chief

Pakistan’s air chief has said Shaheen XI exercises will go a long way towards enhancing the professional skills and operational preparedness of the air forces of Pakistan and China and will also help in developing their mutual understanding of each other's combat skills and interoperability.

“The outstanding air combat skills of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (Plaaf) pilots are reflective of the robust and modern combat training programme of Plaaf,” Air Chief Marshal Mujhahid Anwar Khan said on Tuesday.

He was expressing his views after flying an air superiority sortie in a hi-tech Chinese fighter aircraft during ongoing exercise Shaheen IX, according to a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) press release.

Pakistan-China Joint Air Exercise “Shaheen-IX” started at an operational air base of the PAF on December 9. The joint air exercise has now entered its last phase.

A contingent of Plaaf, comprising combat pilots, air defence controllers and technical ground crew is participating in the exercise. Shaheen-IX is the ninth in the series of joint air exercises which are conducted each year in both countries on alternate basis.

The air chief also commended the Chinese military aviation technology and said it is on a par with contemporary requirements and has the full capacity to meet the challenges of modern warfare.

Expressing his satisfaction over the conduct of the exercises, the air chief said it is heartening to see the two air forces inter-operating across a wide spectrum of airpower employment options.

”In modern times, competition in the air domain centers not only around mastery of technology, but also on its artful application in both strategy and tactics,” he added.

APP WITH INPUT FROM NEWS DESK