NEW DELHI: American F-35A stealth fighters will for the first time fly combat missions alongside and against Indian Air Force (IAF) fighters from Indian soil when the second edition of Exercise Tarang Shakti gets underway at Jodhpur later this month, with the IAF also set to test battlefield lessons from Operation Sindoor in a multinational air campaign.
“For the first time, we are going to exercise with the F-35 on Indian soil,” IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit confirmed on Tuesday while announcing the exercise, which will be held from September 26 to October 12 at Jodhpur airbase, around 200 km from the Pakistan border.
The IAF has operated alongside F-35s during exercises overseas, while the US stealth fighter has twice featured at Aero India. But Tarang Shakti will mark the first time the aircraft undertakes tactical missions with Indian fighters from an Indian airbase.
The exercise comes at a time when the nature of air warfare is being reshaped by unmanned systems, long-range precision weapons, electronic warfare and increasingly networked air-defence systems. The IAF plans to incorporate lessons from recent conflicts, including Operation Sindoor, into the exercise scenarios.
“Precision, integrated air defence, information dominance, space-enabled capabilities and unmanned systems are the areas where we are looking at the future,” Dixit said.
Operation Sindoor, he said, had reinforced the importance of intelligence-led operations, missile defence, electronic warfare and jointness.
Invitations for the drill were sent to 65 friendly foreign countries, with eight nations bringing their own aircraft to Jodhpur. The US will deploy the F-35A, the UAE its F-16s and France its Rafales, while Germany, Australia, Greece, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will participate with combat, transport and support aircraft. Another 32 countries are sending observers and delegations.
The IAF will deploy its frontline Su-30MKIs and Rafales, supported by Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, air-to-air refuelling tankers and transport aircraft. The exercise will cover air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, air-to-air refuelling and other complex air operations, with scenarios designed to replicate the demands of an actual air campaign.
“The aim is to derive tactically viable solutions,” said Group Captain T Deswal, director of the exercise, adding that the drills would seek to recreate demanding and realistic air and operational environments.
The emphasis on realistic combat scenarios is significant for the IAF, which has been drawing lessons from recent conflicts while simultaneously dealing with a shrinking fighter fleet. The force currently has 29 fighter squadrons against an authorised strength of 42.5, while the indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft remains years away from its first flight.
An accompanying exposition at Jodhpur will also showcase indigenous sensors, weapons and UAVs to visiting air chiefs and foreign delegations, giving Indian defence companies an opportunity to pitch their systems to potential overseas customers.
The F-35’s participation also comes against the backdrop of India’s search for future combat capability. Washington has offered the stealth fighter to New Delhi, while Russia has pushed its Su-57 with an offer of local manufacture.
The IAF has formally committed to neither, with the homegrown fifth-generation AMCA still a decade away and the force staring at a widening fighter shortfall. That calculation has sharpened since Pakistan announced it would acquire China's J-35 stealth fighter, a deal Islamabad has said is imminent. The presence of the F-35 at Jodhpur will nevertheless give Indian crews a rare opportunity to train alongside and against a fifth-generation aircraft in a complex multinational setting, and to work out what it takes to find, track and fight one.