In February 2004, US Air Force (USAF) pilots realised the formidability, ingenuity and tactical brilliance of their Indian Air Force (IAF) counterparts and admitted to having been decisively beaten.
It was the first Cope India, an annual exercise between the USAF and the IAF, at the Gwalior Air Force Station.
The F-15, a fourth-generation air superiority fighter with no combat losses and maximum recorded kills by the Israeli Air Force, was pitted against the IAF’s fourth-generation Mirage 2000, Su-30MK and the MiG-29.
The IAF achieved a 9:1 kill ratio in mock engagements.
“The outcome of the exercise boils down to (the fact that) they ran tactics that were more advanced than we expected…They could come up with a game plan, but if it wasn’t working, they would call an audible and change (tactics in flight),” Colonel Mike Snodgrass, commander of the 3rd Wing (Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska),
According to USAF Colonel Greg Newbech, “I pity the pilot who has to face the IAF and chances the day to underestimate him because he won’t be going home.”
The IAF’s winning star, however, wasn’t a fourth-generation jet—it was the third-generation MiG-21 Bison, an upgraded version of the Russian-made baseline third-generation MiG-21. “The two most formidable IAF aircraft proved to be the MiG-21 Bison…and the Su-30MK Flanker,” Snodgrass said. The Bison’s low radar visibility, instantaneous turn rate, acceleration and helmet-mounted sight, coupled with high-off-boresight R-73 air-to-air missiles, beat the F-15Cs.
