For the first time in 18 years, Indian armed forces Friday conducted large-scale war manoeuvres in the Thar desert baring its just-acquired lethal weapons platforms and systems before Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and observers from 40 countries, including China.

In 'Operation Desert Strike', as the war games have been codenamed, the army and the air force deployed latest acquistions like Russian T-90 tanks, mechanised infantry combat vehicles in tandem with force multipliers like Israeli Searcher and Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Air Defence Missile System and other electronic sensors and surveillance systems.

Synergy between air and ground forces marked the Corps level exercises with IAF fighters like Mirage 2000, ground attack MiG-27s, deep penetration Jaguars, upgraded MiG-21 Bisons and attack helicopters immaculately coordinating with their counterparts on the ground.

It is for the first time that war games of this intensity were held in the desert after the famous 'Operation Brasstacks' in 1987, officials said.

For the first time, top level officers of the Chinese People' Army witnessed the exercise, army officials said.

Indian army teams had observed Chinese military exercises earlier. Over 20,000 personnel participated in the massive exercise.