OREANDA-NEWS  Russian-designed Su-30MKI fighters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are taking part in the Garuda 25 exercises at the Mont-de-Marsan airbase in southwestern France, where they can operate in conjunction with local French Rafale and Mirage 2000 combat aircraft, Military Watch Magazine (MWM) writes.

According to the Western magazine, the Garuda 25 exercises are taking place from November 16 to November 27. "The cockpit images released from Mont-de-Marsan airbase attracted significant attention to the exercises and showed six Su-30s next to the Rafale," the publication says.

The magazine writes that Western officers highly appreciate the possibility of joint exercises with the Indian Su-30MKI, which are closely related to the more advanced Russian Su-30SM and Su-35. The publication recalls that in October, the Royal Navy of Great Britain conducted an imitation of an air battle between F-35B fighters and Su-30MKI, and a year earlier, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces carried out a similar one.

MWM emphasizes that the Su-30MKI surpasses the Rafale in terms of radar, engine, flight characteristics and range, and currently the Indian Air Force is the world's largest operator of the Su-30.