India, France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carried out a mega air exercise over the Arabian Sea.
- The exercise was conducted against the backdrop of the rising global concerns over Houthi militants targeting several commercial vessels in the strategic waterways in the region.
- The exercise ‘Desert Knight’, conducted on January 23, featured several frontline aerial assets and combat jets of the air forces of the three countries.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) component at the drills consisted of Su-30 MKI, MiG-29 and Jaguar fighter jets besides AWACS (airborne early warning and control aircraft, C-130-J transport plane and air-to-air refuelling aircraft.
