Major General Mattar bin Ali al-Obaidani, Commander of the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) witnessed Sunday (photo) the launch of the Eastern Bridge /5 exercise, carried out by RAFO with the participation of the Indian Air Force at Masairah Air Base.

 The exercise will continue till 24 October, according to Oman News Agency (ONA).

 The exercise is part of a series of regular exercises carried out by RAFO, with the participation of aircraft from the Air Force of the Republic of India, which is held every two years alternately between the two countries.

 The exercise aims to strengthen the Omani-Indian friendship in the military fields and the implementation of joint operational tasks, as well as exchanging expertise with friendly forces to upgrade the levels of RAFO personnel.

 Meanwhile, the Royal Army of Oman (RAO), represented by Musandam Security Force, and the British Marines units also held Sunday a number of joint activities as part of the Omani-British joint exercise (Musandam Fort 1), which will last until 29 October, Oman News Agency (ONA) reported.

 The implementation of the exercise aims at promoting the existing military cooperation between the two sides, and the implementation of joint exercises in various climatic conditions, geographical terrains and biodiversity in order to achieve sharing expertise and gaining skills from both sides participating in the drill.