IAF to train RAF pilots: All British academies now host Indian instructors | External Affairs & Defence Security News

The training will initially take place over a two-year period, according to a press release issued by the British High Commission in India following air staff talks between the two countries in New Delhi on Thursday.

IAF instructors who will be assigned to RAF Valley, the training base for British fast jet pilots, will train on BAE Hawk T2 or Texan T1 training aircraft.

During their tenure, the Indian instructors will remain under IAF command while working on training missions for RAF commanders, the statement said.

However, all British military academies now host Indian instructors from all three services.

In January, an IAF officer was posted as an instructor at RAF College Cranwell, the academy training the next generation of RAF officers. Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth has an Indian Navy officer as an instructor since May 2024 and an Indian Army officer has been an instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst since last May.

In the statement, Air Vice Marshal Ian Townsend, Deputy Commander of the United Kingdom Air Force, said regarding the development: “Together, we are investing in the foundations of long-term cooperation and shaping a partnership that is both enduring and strategic.”

India and the UK have strategic bilateral relations. An agreement on cooperation in military training was signed during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Mumbai in October.

Last year, the British and Indian navies conducted the largest naval exercise involving carrier strike groups. This was followed by joint army exercise Ajeya Warrior in Rajasthan.

An F-35B fighter jet belonging to the British Royal Navy was stranded in India for five weeks last summer due to bad weather conditions and a technical glitch.