India and America meet in mid-air
Hundreds of members of the local community at Kalaikunda air base in West Bengal's Midnapore district flock to see static displays of US and Indian Air Force aircraft.
About 250 US Airmen from five bases in the Pacific, including Misawa Air Base, Japan, participated in the Cope India exercise.
US and Indian officials said the exercise helped them share knowledge. "Indian pilots, air traffic controllers and IAF leadership were impressed with what they saw," said Lt. Col. Pete Bastien, AWACS detachment commander.
"In the same way that we Americans are excited to see the MiGs up close, our Indian counterparts too were excited to see our aircraft." In fact, one of the Indian pilots even returned early from his mission "because he heard we were giving tours of the aircraft, and he wanted to be sure to see it," Colonel Bastien said.
The exercise was the third Cope India in three years. In 2002, the focus was on airlift operations. In 2004, F-15s from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, deployed to India for an air combat exercise.
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