Tarang Shakti 2026 will put Indian Air Force pilots in the same sky as the American F-35 stealth fighter for the first time, with the multinational air exercise set to open at Air Force Station Jodhpur on 26 September. Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS), confirmed the F-35's participation while briefing the media on Tuesday.

The exercise runs until 12 October. Invitations have gone out to 65 friendly countries.

The F-35 has been to India before, but only as a visitor, the Vice Chief noted. The Indian Air Force has never trained alongside it.

"For the first time, we are going to exercise with the F-35. It is coming," Air Mshl Dixit said. He added that the IAF may speak more about the experience once the exercise is over, or may choose not to, since there is a slight operational security issue involved.

What the F-35 brings to Tarang Shakti 2026

The United States is expected to send two to three F-35s, according to defence officials. The aircraft is a fifth-generation fighter, designed to be hard to detect on radar and to gather and share large amounts of battlefield information with friendly aircraft.

Two earlier visits

American F-35As have flown at Aero India in Bengaluru, most recently in February 2025. The Vice Chief's mention of Trivandrum refers to a British Royal Navy F-35B that made an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram in June 2025 and stayed grounded there for more than five weeks before it could be flown out.

Both were short stays. Neither involved flying with the IAF.

Who is flying at Tarang Shakti 2026

Seven air forces, from the United States, France, Germany, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the UAE, are listed as participants, according to reports. Each brings its own mix of aircraft. France is sending Rafale fighters along with an A400M transport and an MRTT refuelling tanker. Germany is contributing an A400M of its own, Australia a C-130 transport and Bangladesh a C-130J. Sri Lanka is expected to send a King Air 350, the UAE its F-16 fighters and a Global 6000, and the United States its F-35s alongside a KC-135 tanker.

Defence officials separately put the number of countries taking part at over 40, a wider figure than the seven flying contingents named so far. The exercise logo carries the line Power in Partnership.

Gp Capt T Deswal, Director Exercise, called it the largest air exercise in Asia.

On the Indian side, the IAF will field the Rafale, Su-30MKI, Mirage 2000, Jaguar, Tejas and MiG-29, among other fighters. AEW&C aircraft, transport planes and air-to-air refuelling tankers will also take part, officials said. In simple terms, that means the IAF will fly almost its full range of combat and support aircraft next to its guests, from fighters to the flying radars and tankers that keep them in the air longer.

Lessons from Operation Sindoor

The Vice Chief linked the exercise directly to how wars are now fought. Recent conflicts, he said, have shown the value of precision, integrated defence, unmanned systems, information dominance and space-enabled capabilities, and of bringing all of them together in one multi-domain operation.

"Operation Sindoor has reinforced many of these realities for us. It demonstrated the importance of intelligence-led operations, precision, integrated air and missile defence, counter-UAS, and jointness across domains," he said.

Counter-UAS is the job of detecting and stopping hostile drones. Along with joint operational tactics and closer integration of high-technology systems among partner air forces, it is among the stated aims of the exercise, according to defence officials.

From one partner at a time to many

For years, the IAF trained with foreign air forces mostly through bilateral exercises. "We learned to operate with one partner at a time. Tarang Shakti changed that approach," Air Mshl Dixit said.

The first edition was held in 2024 in two phases, at Sulur in Tamil Nadu from 6 to 14 August and at Jodhpur from 29 August to 14 September. Nearly 30 countries were expected to take part, ten of them with fighter aircraft. The curtain-raiser for that edition was given by the then Vice Chief, Air Mshl AP Singh, who now leads the service as Chief of the Air Staff, ACM AP Singh.

German Eurofighters flew from Sulur in that edition. The two air forces held their first Air Staff Talks in New Delhi this August.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the Jodhpur phase in September 2024 and watched displays by the Prachand attack helicopter, the Sarang and Surya Kiran aerobatic teams and the Tejas.

"We now want to build on that experience, making Tarang Shakti 26 the next logical step," the Vice Chief said.

Jodhpur has had a crowded month. Exercise Veer Guardian, the India Japan bilateral air exercise, has been running at the same base since 9 September, and its closing week saw both air chiefs fly together in a Tejas formation. Veer Guardian ends on Tuesday, four days before Tarang Shakti 2026 opens at the same airfield.