Overview
- The Tarang Shakti exercise began Saturday at Jodhpur with five Indian bases activated to create realistic western‑front scenarios and with French Rafales and support aircraft arriving on Sept. 25.
- For the first time U.S. F‑35 stealth fighters will undertake tactical missions from an Indian airbase, a move the IAF and partners say will let crews observe stealth integration and networked operations directly.
- Eight countries are participating and about 32 more are attending as observers, with more than 80 Indian and foreign aircraft and roughly 1,500 personnel scheduled to practice combined missions such as air combat, refuelling and search‑and‑rescue.
- France has deployed four Rafale F4 fighters, three A330 MRTT tankers and two A400M transports under Mission Pégase, a long‑range projection effort that brings roughly 300 personnel to strengthen aerospace cooperation with India.
- The IAF is using lessons from last year’s Operation Sindoor to shape scenarios so air crews and planners can test tactics, refuelling procedures and command arrangements—an experience that could reshape training, interoperability and future procurement choices as regional fifth‑generation fleets expand.