Indian Army conducts biggest airborne exercise ‘Winged Raider’

News:The Indian Army has conducted its biggest airborne exercise called the ‘Winged Raider’ comprising of more than 500 special forces troops in the North-Eastern theatre. 

Facts:

About Winged Raider exercise:

• The exercise aims to demonstrate the operational preparedness of the paratroopers and air warriors to undertake airborne missions.
• It involved a large number of the Special Forces troops and all kind of air transport platforms of the Air Force.
• The newly inducted aerial platforms and equipment were also validated during the exercise with clockwise precision and seamless integration between the Army and the Air Force.

Significance of the exercise:

• The exercise indicated the shift in the army’s focus towards the frontier with China.
• In October 2019,the Indian army had also carried out Exercise ‘Him Vijay’ in Arunachal Pradesh to test its mobility, communication and coordination of such a huge body of fast-moving troops in difficult terrain.
• The integrated battle groups(IBGs) had participated for the first time in an exercise.