S. Korea, India stage joint air drills during multinational exercise in Australia

South Korea and India have conducted joint air drills during a major multinational exercise in Australia, the South's Air Force said Wednesday.The drills, involving South Korean F-15K and Indian Su-30MKI fighter jets, took place Thursday over an air base in Darwin in northern Australia as part of the biennial Exercise Pitch Black.The Air Force said the drills were designed to help improve their pilots' understanding of the characteristics and tactics of the countries' different war planes.South Korea does not operate the Su-30MKI, a variant of Russia's Su-30, while India does not operate the F-15 built by U.S. defense giant Boeing.Exercise Pitch Black, which involves 20 countries and over 140 aircraft this year, kicked off on July 12 and will run through Aug. 2. South Korea has dispatched six F-15K fighters and some 100 troops for the exercise.Source: Yonhap News Agency