The Javelins were in India from October 63 working with the IAF in wargames against US F100 fighters.
Exercise Shiksha in the eastern sector began on November 9 and ran to November 14, the day that the exercises began in the western sector. The RAF Javelin squadron had been in India since late October. On October 31, RAF and IAF fighters had performed a mock scramble in front of a British dignitary and members of the press. According to The Hindustan Times, the Indian and British personnel based at IAF Kalaikunda seemed excited about the upcoming air exercises.1
Despite the excitement, the exercises got off to a rocky start. The first phase of the exercise was a day-long interception drill in which IAF and RAF pilots attempted to intercept IAF and RAAF bombers. The target aircraft maneuvered within a roughly 1000-square-mile area, between 20,000 and 50,000 feet elevation. The defending aircraft intercepted relatively few of the attacking planes.2
November 14 was the busiest day of Exercise Shiksha, with air operations running concurrently in both eastern and western sectors. The Indian press reported that nearly 140 fighter aircraft participated in the exercise on that day, flying practice interceptions against fifty Canberra bombers. The exercise zone reportedly stretched across north India, from Punjab in the west to West Bengal in the east. From time to time during the day, residents of Delhi caught sight of fighters and bombers above the city.3
The exercises in the western sector took place in two phases, November 14-15 and 17-19. After the first phase, the pilots reviewed the results of their test interceptions and received suggestions for improvement.4 Wg Cdr Donald Michael, the commanding officer of IAF No. 3 Wing, wrote an account of the exercises for the Indian website Bharat Rakshak.5 During the exercise’s mock interceptions, the pilots recorded their interceptions of the target aircraft by exposing a frame of gun camera film. The Indian and US airmen reviewed their gun camera photos during the one-day critique between the two phases of the exercise. As Michael recalled, the IAF pilots had taken several good pictures of the target bombers, but the films from the American planes were blank. The F-100s, armed with Sidewinder missiles, were purportedly capable of shooting down an enemy plane without ever making visual contact with the target.
Exercise Shiksha ended with the last air operations flown in the western sector on November 19, followed by another day of critique and debriefing.6 Gen. Walter J. Sweeney, head of the US Tactical Air Command, visited India on the last day of the exercises. He told the press, “Cooperation between the IAF, USAF, RAF and Australian Air Force appears to have been superb.”7 On the day after air operations ended, the Indian Ministry of Defence released a communique expressing its satisfaction with the training value of the air exercises.8
Exercise Shiksha was the first and only joint air exercise conducted between the Indian and US air forces during the Cold War. Although the original July 1963 air agreement had stated that these exercises would take place periodically for the strengthening of India’s air defenses, Shiksha never had a sequel.9 After the exercises ended in the eastern sector, an Indian Defence Ministry spokesman told the press that there were no talks underway for a repeat joint air exercise.10