Intelligence: Nervous at Nellis

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January 9, 2008: India has confirmed that its six Su-30 fighters, that will participate in U.S. Air Force "Red Flag" exercises in the United States (Nevada) this Summer, will not use their Russian made NO11M radar. This is a modern radar, which first entered service in 1993. India, and the Russians, don't want the NO11M broadcasting at a place like Nellis Air Force Base, the Nevada location of the Red Flag exercises. That's because Nellis has plenty of equipment to pick up every nuance of the NO11M operation. This makes it easier to develop countermeasures for the radar.

In the fifteen years the NO11M has been in service, the U.S. has probably recorded it in action, but not to the extent that this could be done at Nellis. Then again, maybe American spies got all the data they needed right from the factory. No one is talking, and the Indians, at the behest of their Russians suppliers, are not taking any chances.