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| Afghanistan-Pak-India |
| Communists prevent landing of US F-16 aircrew in Calcutta |
| 2005-11-03 |
| Activists of West Bengal's ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday prevented a US aircraft and its F-16 crew from landing at Kolkata Airport. Staging a vociferous protest at the airport, the CPI-M demonstratrors forced the air traffic control authorities to relay instructions to the aircraft crew to take off soon after it hit the runway. The aircraft had arrived in Kolkata to participate in the Indo-US air exercises at Kalaikonda from November 7 to 19. The aircraft had to take off for Bagdogra Airport in North Bengal, where it faced a similar protest from CPI-M activists deployed there. The crew of the plane was not allowed to disembark, and according to the latest information, the aircraft has returned to Kolkata, but the crew is not being allowed to disembark. The Indian and US Air Force will test their mettle at Kalaikunda in West Bengal at the second Indo-US joint air exercises from November 7-19. The exercise titled Cope India 05 would see the participation of F-16 fighters jets from the USAF squadron based in Japan and IAF fighters, SU-30K, Mirage-2000, MiG-21 Bison and MiG-27s. The IAF's tanker fleet, IL-78 will also be deployed at the joint exercises For the first time, AWACS will take part in the air exercise. The IAF is in the process of inducting AWACS for Beyond Visual Range (BVR) strike capability, and its inclusion in Cope India 05 is being considered significant. The Indo-French joint exercise at the Istres Air Base in France also saw the deployment of the AWACS by the French Air Force. Sources said that the exercises would include Dissimilar Air Combat Manoeuvring (ACM) and Large Force Engagement (LFE) in the Beyond Visual Range (BVR) regime. At the previous Indo-US joint exercises in Alaska, IAF pilots had got the better of the US pilots in their MiG-21s. Officials said that the aim of the joint exercise is to enhance mutual operational understanding and refine procedures for future joint exercises between the two Air Forces and familiarize with each other's operational, technical and administrative practices. (ANI) |
| Posted by:john |
| #4 The Indian Air Force choose the location badly. They considered technical Air Base parameters without the necessary political view. The reflexive anti-US outlook of the Bengali communists should have ruled out Bengal. The Indian communists are true believers. Believe it or not, their motto was "China's chairman is our chairman". Their orders come straight from Beijing. After the recent Japan-China flap, Japanese companies began looking at diversifying their manufacturing base away from China. The communist chief returned from Beijing and organized violent demonstrations to shut down the operations of Japanese companies in India. |
| Posted by: john 2005-11-03 16:04 |
| #3 Geezus, don't the Indians have military-only facilities? Can't have demonstrators on the property if the facility is closed to civilians. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-11-03 15:57 |
| #2 Our first exercise? High speed runs at the control towers at Kolkata and Bagdora Airports. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-11-03 15:48 |
| #1 The Communist Party has ruled Indian West Bengal for decades. Their capital Calcutta is a shining monument to their rule. |
| Posted by: john 2005-11-03 15:44 |