US stealth fighter F-35 among global air assets to headline Exercise Tarang Shakti in Jodhpur

New Delhi: Seven foreign nations will participate in the second edition of Exercise Tarang Shakti at the Jodhpur Air Force Station from Spetember 26 to October 12, headlined by the US multi-role stealth fighter jet F-35 taking part in the multilateral air exercise for the first time, the Indian Air Force said on Tuesday.

The seven foreign nations include the US, France, Germany, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the UAE, they said.

The hosts would showcase Rafale, Mirage-2000, Jaguar, Tejas, MiG-29 and Su-30 MKI, among other air assets, during the exercise, which aims to showcase the country's defence prowess and provide a platform to foster interoperability, the IAF said in a briefing.


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Among the global air forces, US stealth fighter F-35, France's Rafale, UAE's F-16 and Bangladesh's C-130J will display their "high-octane joint tactical manoeuvres" over two weeks at the Jodhpur Air Force Station, the IAF said.

Though F-35 had taken part in Aero India 2025, it would be on display at Exercise Tarng Shakti for the first time, officials said.

The mega exercise will take place soon after the Veer Guardian exercise - a bilateral air exercise between the air forces of India and Japan being held at the same venue from September 9-22.

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The maiden edition of the exercise was held in 2024 in two phases - at Sulur, Tamil Nadu, and Jodhpur - in which fighter aircraft from the UK, Germany and France, among other nations, took part.

At the briefing on Tuesday, senior IAF officials made a PPT presentation on the exercise. Later, Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, briefed and interacted with mediapersons.

"The scale and operational output of Tarang Shakti 2024 was significant. Across the two phases, 11 countries participated with their air assets, with 45 aircraft undertaking 76 missions, generating more than 800 sorties and and over a thousand flying hours," he said.

"This year, invitations have been sent to 65 friendly foreign countries," the IAF's Vice Chief said.

Asked if ongoing geopolitical issues played a role in lesser number of foreign nations participating this time, he said every exercise the IAF undertakes has it's own construct, and the current geopolitical issues was not a factor.

He also shared details of air assets of the participating countries.

"The composition itself tells the story. We have F-35s, F-16s, Rafales, A400ms, MRTTs, KC135s and other specialised platforms," he said.