In a display of growing defence cooperation between India and the United Kingdom, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has conducted a joint exercise with the UK Royal Navy over the Indian Ocean.

Notably, the UK Royal Navy's F-35B stealth combat jets—state-of-the-art, fifth-generation aircraft developed by US defence firm Lockheed Martin—participated in the exercise.

On the Indian side, the IAF deployed its Russian-made Sukhoi-30 MKI jets and British-origin Jaguar jets, both of which are equipped for maritime roles.

The F-35B jets are based on the deck of the 65,000-tonne UK aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. The IAF jets, meanwhile, took off from land bases and rendezvoused over the sea to conduct the drills.

On Wednesday, the IAF shared images from the exercise and stated: “On 14 Oct, IAF’s

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