India and Japan decided to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation, including joint production of dual-purpose technology in India. India, Japan enhanced military collaboration is counter China’s assertive nature in the South China Sea and beefed-up military presence in the Ind-pacific region.
Two sides agreed to deepen military cooperation and knowledge sharing between the military.
A Japanese Air Force’s contingent in Malabar exercise
The annual “Malabar” wargames that India holds with the United States and Japan have been expanded to include Australia this year to cover all members of the Quad, an informal group of the four largest democracies in the Indo-Pacific.
China has accused the United States, which has been leading the effort to forge a common front among its allies, of a “Cold War mentality” and ideological prejudice.
Five ships of the Indian Navy, including a submarine, were deployed in the exercise along with U.S. Navy’s John S McCain missile destroyer, Australia’s Ballarat frigate and a Japanese destroyer, the Indian ministry of defense said.
The exercises comes at a time when the host, India, is locked in a military stand-off on the disputed land border with China.
Thousands of troops are in close proximity in the western Himalayas, where India says Chinese troops have intruded across its side of the de facto border. Beijing denies any intrusion and says India has been building roads and other infrastructure in the disputed area, causing the crisis.
Australia’s diplomatic relations with China also worsened this year after Canberra led calls for an international inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic and Beijing imposed trade sanctions on Australian beef and barley.
Separately, Japan is embroiled in a dispute with China over ownership of islands in the East China Sea.
Last year, the Indians exhibited their aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, with MiG-29K carrier-based fighters.
Su-30MKI To Provide Valuable Insights On Su-30MKK and J-11
But the real excitement was caused by the upcoming joint exercises of fighter pilots from India and Japan, during which interaction with the Su-30MKI will be worked out. The Japanese F-15 and F-2 will work out the tactics of the destruction of the Sukhoi Su-30MKI. The Japanese Komatsu base in Ishikawa Prefecture and the Hyakuri base in Ibaraki Prefecture were chosen as the training ground.
Maneuvering fighters on aeroplanes of different designs, even more so from other countries, is very difficult. The mock battle will allow Japanese pilots to master the tactics to defeat Russian aircraft. That is why the upcoming exercises preceded military transport aviation manoeuvres in December 2018. The Japanese transferred the transport Kawasaki C-2 to India, and the host presented the C-17 Globemaster. The organizers practiced interaction not only in the air but also on the ground infrastructure. A year later, a C-130 Hercules flew from Japan to India for another exercise.
At the same time, the initiative to use the Su-30MKI comes from the Japanese side. The main scenario of manoeuvres is that groups of planes attack Japanese targets from the west; the scenario assumes Russia or China attacked Japanese targets and Japanese pilots defend the territory.
The PRC is armed with nearly 165 Sukhoi Su-30MKK (NATO reporting name: Flanker-G) aircraft. China also reversed engineered Su-30 and made J-11 fighters.
India has long been in a state of confrontation with China, occasionally turning up the heat in Galwan Valley. Beijing has recently been building up traditional types of weapons and expanding its nuclear potential. Some satellite photos of new silo-based missile positioning areas are worth something. So they are preparing in India as best they can, including informing the allies about the potential of the Chinese weapons.
It is expected that the Japanese will be able to prepare in detail for repelling the invasion of the Su-30 type and practice aerial combat techniques.
In the Indian Air Force, there are 272 Su-30MKI multirole fighters, the origin of which can hardly be called purely Russian. Moscow and Delhi have a multimillion-dollar contract for the licensed assembly of aircraft at the facilities of the Indian company HAL.
It is worth recalling separately that the Su-30MKI can carry supersonic BrahMos missiles, which multiplies the combat capabilities of the vehicle.
According to the Japanese exercises plans, up to 6 aircraft of the Su-30MKI series are to fly to the islands. Tokyo is the winner, receiving unique information about the equipment of potential adversaries – China and Russia. For Delhi, this move is rather a political one – India found an ally within the framework of the “Quad” and are ready to further integrate into the anti-Chinese confrontation.
India does not think about reputational losses – Moscow will never refuse to supply weapons (including aircraft) to such a bottomless market. As soon as Russia curtails cooperation, others will immediately take their place. But this may spur China to develop home-grown military technologies further.
Aside from the political component of Indian tactics, the Japanese side will gain valuable information about the Su-30MKI. The JASDF has one of the most advanced fighter jets, the F-15J.
It seems that the samurai will not miss their chance to score few victories over license-built Sukhoi’s Su-30MKI.
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