India rehearses war near Pakistan border

Deep in the sandy scrublands of the Thar Desert near the Pakistan border, thousands of Indian air force and army troops are fighting mock battles, swooping into "enemy" territory and "capturing enemy assets".

At least 50,000 troops and 120 aircraft are engaged in India’s largest ever military exercise in western India’s Rajasthan state, practising for future battle scenarios that may involve nuclear, biological and chemical weapon strikes.

The exercises, conducted in one of the world’s most punishing terrains, are expected to reveal any deficiencies in India’s military capabilities and help bring extensive changes in the forces, said Air Marshal S Krishnaswamy, commander of India’s western air command.

The Thar Desert is one of the hottest regions in the world. With the summer heat peaking, endurance levels have been pushed to the limits.

"The heat is punishing. For a fighter pilot, temperatures inside the cockpit can touch 50 C (122 F). It’s worse still for those in the armoured tanks, where the temperature blisters at around 60 C (140 F)," he said. Tank crewmen get skin blisters if they touch metal at that temperature.

The movement of armoured cars, tanks and helicopters stir up clouds of dust and hot, fine sand which finds its way through layers of clothing. Worse, it limits visibility to less than 200 yards for pilots who are forced to fly at low heights, making them easy targets for anti-aircraft guns.

"It’s warfare under the most demanding conditions. Our forces must train to fight in such circumstances. We’re checking out not just human endurance, but the performance levels of aircraft in such conditions," said Krishnaswamy.

The exercises are also aimed at honing coordination between airborne defences and ground troops, and finding the gaps in getting the two forces to work in tandem, said Krishnaswamy.

Air force combat jets have made more than 750 sorties since the exercises began, making reconnaissance flights, followed by deep strikes far into areas demarcated as "enemy lines".

Many of the sorties have been late at night, when visibility in the desert is at its lowest.

In the exercises, the "enemy" is never named. But Pakistan is just 45 miles to the west.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they became independent from British colonial rule in 1947 and border skirmishes are frequent.