After Fighter Jets, India And Japan Prepare Heavy Lift Planes For Another Exercise

The “Shinyu-Maitri-23” exercise between the two air forces will take place at the Komatsu Air Base and the airspace around it at the beginning of next month.

The goal of the exercise is to improve air transport and help the two air forces communicate better with each other.

“Best friend” is what “Shinyu” means in Japanese, while “Maitri” means “friendship” in Hindi. The IAF will start sending C-17 planes and people to the exercise on February 28. The two-day exercise will start on March 1.

From its base in Miho, the JASDF will take part with its C-2 transport plane, which was designed and made in Japan.

#WATCH: The contingent of #IndianArmy arrived in Japan to take part in Joint Military #ExerciseDharmaGuardian with Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces commencing at Aibano Manoeuvre Area: Indian Army#INDefence #IndiaJapanFriendship pic.twitter.com/0uA3H2u1Zo

— INDIA NARRATIVE (@india_narrative) February 16, 2023

In December 2018, the first Shinyu-Maitri exercise took place at the Air Force Station in Agra. The focus of the exercise was on using transport aircraft to do joint mobility and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. During the exercise, people showed how to load and unload heavy things.

The next joint exercise will happen soon after the first “Veer Guardian-2023” joint air exercise, which took place at the Hyakuri Air Base last month and was a huge success.

During the 16-day joint training, the two Air Forces not only did complicated and thorough aerial manoeuvres in multiple simulated operational scenarios, but they also flew in each other’s fighter planes to learn more about how each operates.

The IAF has already asked Japan to take part in joint fighter drills in India.

2月14日、インド太平洋・中東方面派遣部隊 #IMED23🇯🇵は、#インド共和国 🇮🇳のコチ港に寄港し、ホストシップの揚陸艦「マガル」艦長から歓迎を受けました。
停泊期間中、インド海軍との親善交流を通して #自由で開かれたインド太平洋 の実現に寄与します。#FOIP #QUAD @JMSDF_A_MF_HQ pic.twitter.com/L3kKWUQEvU

— 防衛省 海上自衛隊 (@JMSDF_PAO) February 15, 2023

Both countries have praised the “dramatic expansion” of security and defence ties in recent years. This shows how committed they are to a “common strategic goal” of making the Indo-Pacific region free and open, resilient, based on the rule of law, and free of coercion.

Shinyu-Maitri-23 was announced at the same time that the Garhwal Rifles regiment of the Indian Army and an infantry regiment from the Middle Army of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) are taking part in the fourth edition of the joint military exercise “Dharma Guardian” at Camp Imazu in Japan’s Shiga province from February 17 to March 2.

“The annual training event with Japan is important and important because of the security problems that both countries face in the current world situation. At the start of the exercise, the Ministry of Defense said, “This exercise is for platoon-level joint training on operations in jungle and semi-urban/urban terrain.”

Last week, two ships from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) stopped at the port of Kochi. This was another sign that strategic ties were getting stronger.