August 27,2008:  Eight Indian Su-30 fighters, participating in U.S. Air Force "Red Flag" exercises in the United States (Nevada), have been ordered not to use their Russian made NO11M radar. This was expected, as the Indians are obliged to keep the technical details of this equipment secret, lest a potential enemy get a head start on figuring out how to deal with it. Allowing this radar to emit its regular signals would give counter-measures people a head start in figuring out how to deceive it.

NO11M 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 broadcasting in combat mode.

 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.

Indian pilots were also not allowed to drop chaff or flares, or use some of the other electronic communications their Su-30s are equipped with.