Cope India is taking place in the face of a massive protest by communists opposed to New Delhi’s cooperation with USAF. Some 70,000 activists gathered to protest the Cope India maneuvers at the IAF’s Kalaikunda Air Base. Workers affiliated with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) shouted slogans. Things stayed peaceful, possibly because India had deployed 800 policemen to the base.
An F-16 pilot was awarded a Silver Star for a harrowing mission in which he dodged multiple surface-to-air missiles during the opening weeks of the operation against the Houthis in Yemen earlier this year.
