Exercise Garuda is a bilateral air combat exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'Air et de l'Espace), one of the longest-running air force exercises India conducts with any partner nation. First held in 2003, the series alternates between venues in India and France and has grown from a modest early engagement into a demanding exercise covering beyond-visual-range combat, precision strike missions, coordinated air defence and electronic warfare scenarios.

Key facts

  • Participants: Indian Air Force and French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'Air et de l'Espace)
  • First edition: 2003, at Air Force Station Gwalior, India
  • Format: held periodically, alternating between Indian and French air bases
  • 8th edition (2025): held 16-27 November 2025 at Air Base 118, Mont-de-Marsan, France; the Indian contingent deployed six Su-30MKI fighters and over 200 personnel, joined by French Rafale fighters and A330 MRTT tankers
  • Previous editions: held in 2005 and 2010 (France), 2006 and 2014 (India, at Kalaikunda and Jodhpur), 2019 (France) and 2022 (Jodhpur, India, as Garuda VII)
  • Focus areas: beyond-visual-range air combat, precision strike, mixed-formation tactics, air defence coordination and electronic warfare

Origins and format

Exercise Garuda began in 2003 at Air Force Station Gwalior, reflecting a defence relationship between India and France that dates back decades and includes major fighter aircraft programmes such as the Mirage 2000 and, more recently, the Rafale. Unlike some of India's other bilateral air exercises, Garuda has not followed a strict annual calendar, instead being conducted every few years and alternating host countries: the first, third and fifth editions were held in India at Gwalior, Kalaikunda and Jodhpur respectively, while the second, fourth and sixth editions took place in France. This irregular but sustained rhythm has allowed both air forces to prepare more elaborate scenarios for each edition rather than repeating a fixed annual format.

Garuda VII (2022)

The seventh edition, Garuda VII, was conducted at Jodhpur in Rajasthan in 2022, with a French contingent of around 220 personnel deploying four Rafale fighters and an A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft to train alongside Indian Su-30MKI and other IAF fighter types. The exercise built on France's status as one of India's most established defence partners, with Rafale jets already in French and, by that point, Indian service, allowing both air forces to compare tactics on a shared platform as well as develop mixed-formation techniques between Rafale and Su-30MKI aircraft.

The 2025 edition

The eighth edition of Garuda was held from 16 to 27 November 2025 at Air Base 118 in Mont-de-Marsan, France. The Indian contingent, which arrived in France on 10 November, deployed six Su-30MKI fighters along with supporting elements and more than 200 personnel, while the French side fielded multirole Rafale fighters, an Airbus A330 MRTT tanker and other assets, bringing total participation to roughly 25 aircraft and more than 500 airmen. The exercise's scenarios spanned beyond-visual-range engagements, precision strike missions and coordinated air defence and electronic warfare tasks, with mixed formations pairing Indian Su-30MKIs and French Rafales to give pilots from both air forces direct experience of cooperative tactics against a technologically advanced partner air force.

Strategic significance

Garuda's steady, if irregular, cadence over more than two decades reflects the depth and continuity of the India-France defence relationship, which extends well beyond aircraft procurement into joint exercises across all three services, including the Varuna naval exercise and the Shakti army exercise. For the Indian Air Force, exposure to the French Air and Space Force's tactics and its shared experience operating the Rafale offers a useful benchmark as India continues to expand its own Rafale fleet and integrate it within a broader multi-type combat force.