Tarang Shakti 2026 will mark the first occasion on which the Indian Air Force conducts an exercise involving American F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters. The US fifth-generation aircraft are scheduled to operate alongside French Rafales, UAE F-16s and India’s own fighter and support fleet at Jodhpur between September 26 and October 12. The IAF has extended invitations to 65 foreign countries. Seven have confirmed participation with aircraft, while 32 will attend as observer delegations. The American contingent will comprise six F-35As supported by two KC-135 tankers. France will contribute seven Rafales, three A400M Atlas aircraft and two Multi-Role Tanker Transport platforms. The UAE is sending six F-16s and a Global 6000 surveillance aircraft. Australia will provide a C-130 Hercules, Germany two A400Ms, Bangladesh a C-130J and Sri Lanka a King Air 350. Observer participation will include countries such as Japan, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, along with Cambodia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman and the Philippines. Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit said the participant list was developed around the exercise’s interoperability objectives. He also stated that countries including Russia, China, Israel and Saudi Arabia were not invited because India conducts separate bilateral exercises with them. The Indian contingent will field Rafales, Su-30MKIs, Tejas, Jaguars, MiG-29s, Mi-35 and Mi-17 helicopters, airborne warning and control systems, transport aircraft and aerial refuelling platforms. REDFOR and BLUEFOR formations will conduct unified briefings, independent mission planning, tactical sorties and detailed joint debriefs. Scenarios will include close- and beyond-visual-range combat, large-force operations, high-value asset protection, dynamic targeting, air mobility, combat search and rescue and aerial refuelling. Lessons from Operation Sindoor will be used to examine precision strike, multi-domain coordination, long-range air-defence engagements and counter-drone operations. The 2026 edition builds on the inaugural Tarang Shakti held in 2024, when 11 foreign air forces brought 45 combat aircraft and conducted 76 missions, generating 867 sorties and more than 1,180 flying hours.
