Tarang Shakti 2026: Why India’s Multinational Air Exercise Is About More Than Aircraft
When fighter aircraft from different countries share the sky, the spectacle is easy to understand. The harder work happens before take-off: agreeing on procedures, coordinating communications, planning missions and ensuring that different forces can operate safely and effectively together.
That is the larger purpose of Tarang Shakti 2026, the Indian Air Force’s multinational air exercise beginning on September 26 at Air Force Station Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Scheduled to continue until October 12, the second edition brings foreign air forces to India for complex air operations and joint training. The exercise also includes participation by observer nations. Akashvani’s announcement says eight foreign countries will participate with air assets, while 32 nations will attend as observers.
For India, the exercise is an opportunity to practise operating alongside international partners, test coordination in a demanding environment and demonstrate the capabilities of its air force. For participating countries, it offers a chance to learn how other forces plan, communicate and execute missions.
The significance lies not simply in how many aircraft arrive, but in what their crews and support teams can learn from working together.
Who is participating?
The official announcement lists Australia, Bangladesh, France, Germany, Greece, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and the United States among the foreign air forces participating with aircraft. Thirty-two additional nations are expected to attend as observers.
There is a small but important reporting discrepancy. Several media summaries, including the Drishti IAS report, list seven participating foreign air forces and omit Greece. The official list published by Akashvani includes Greece, making eight. For readers, the distinction is a reminder that the number of countries sending aircraft is not necessarily the same as the total number attending or observing.
The aircraft expected to attract considerable attention include the US F-35, French Rafale and UAE F-16. The F-35’s participation has been described in Indian media as its first appearance in an Indian multinational air exercise. The Indian Express has also reported that the exercise will bring together advanced combat aircraft and other aerial assets for joint operations and interoperability training.
On the Indian side, reports identify platforms including the Rafale, Su-30MKI, Mirage 2000, Jaguar, Tejas and MiG-29. These aircraft represent different roles and generations of Indian air power, from multirole fighters to platforms designed for specialised missions.
The mix is significant because modern air operations rarely depend on a fighter acting alone. Surveillance, transport, refuelling, communications and mission planning can all shape what a force is able to accomplish.
Interoperability: the skill behind the spectacle
“Interoperability” is one of the most frequently used terms in multinational military exercises. It means more than simply being able to fly alongside another country’s aircraft.
For air forces, it can involve coordinating mission plans, understanding one another’s procedures, communicating across systems and working through the practical challenges of combined operations. A multinational exercise gives participants an opportunity to practise those tasks before a real-world crisis makes coordination more consequential.
The official description of Tarang Shakti includes a broad range of mission sets: counter-air operations, air defence, reconnaissance, airlift, air-to-air refuelling and other complex activities. Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit has described the exercise as a means of learning from and operating with partner forces while preparing for future air-warfare challenges.
The value is mutual. India can learn from the operating practices and technologies of other air forces, while visiting contingents gain experience working with Indian aircraft, personnel and procedures.
But an exercise is not a combat test with a simple pass-or-fail result. Training scenarios are planned, safety controls are built in, and participants operate within agreed limits. Successful cooperation during an exercise can improve familiarity and confidence; it cannot, by itself, guarantee how forces would perform under the uncertainty and pressure of an actual conflict.
That is an important distinction in an era when military exercises are often presented as straightforward demonstrations of national strength.
From Tarang Shakti 2024 to a wider exercise
The first Tarang Shakti took place in 2024 and was organised in two phases, at Sulur in Tamil Nadu and Jodhpur in Rajasthan. It brought together foreign air assets and observer nations, establishing a format for India to host a large multinational air exercise.
The 2026 edition continues that approach, with Jodhpur and adjoining air bases serving as the setting. Its international participation gives India a platform to build practical military relationships beyond bilateral exercises.
Bilateral training remains valuable: two forces can concentrate on their own procedures and priorities. A multinational exercise adds another layer of complexity. Several countries may bring different aircraft, communications practices, support arrangements and operational assumptions into the same training environment.
That complexity is precisely why such exercises require planning. The more participants involved, the more important clear coordination becomes.
Why Jodhpur matters
Jodhpur places the exercise in western Rajasthan, a region with an established military aviation presence. The air station and adjoining facilities provide the setting for the planned flying and ground activities.
The location also gives the exercise a distinctly Indian context. Hosting an event of this scale involves more than providing runways: personnel, maintenance teams, logistics, safety arrangements and mission-planning infrastructure all contribute to the operation.
For the city and surrounding region, a major exercise can bring activity to local services and logistics. However, the public information available does not establish a quantified economic impact, so claims about tourism, business revenue or employment should be treated cautiously.
The principal purpose remains military training and international engagement, not a commercial event.
Defence diplomacy — with practical limits
Military exercises are one instrument of defence diplomacy. They create regular contact between armed forces, help build professional relationships and provide opportunities to discuss how partners can coordinate.
That does not mean participating countries share identical strategic interests. The United States, France, Australia, the UAE and India, for example, have their own defence priorities, procurement choices and regional relationships. Taking part in a common exercise does not constitute a mutual-defence guarantee or imply agreement on every international issue.
The practical benefit is narrower, but still meaningful: military personnel can become more familiar with one another’s capabilities, procedures and limitations.
For India, hosting partners from different regions supports a defence-engagement approach that is not confined to one alliance or one strategic relationship. The exercise can create useful channels of cooperation while leaving each participant’s national decisions intact.
The capability question: what can India learn?
The presence of advanced foreign aircraft naturally draws attention. Yet the most useful measure of the exercise will not be a photograph of one aircraft beside another.
It will be what participants learn about planning, communication, mission execution, support systems and coordination. Those lessons can inform training and help identify areas where procedures or capabilities need improvement.
For India, the exercise also creates an opportunity to operate its own aircraft in a multinational setting. The presence of the indigenous Tejas alongside other Indian platforms is a visible part of that picture. But an exercise appearance alone does not establish a platform’s overall combat effectiveness, nor does it settle broader questions about production, maintenance, availability or future upgrades.
Those require separate evidence and assessment.
There is a useful lesson here for defence observers: equipment is important, but military capability is a system. Aircraft, trained crews, maintenance, logistics, sensors, communications and command arrangements must work together. A sophisticated jet is only one component of that larger structure.
DOONITED View: Count the lessons, not just the aircraft
Tarang Shakti 2026 puts India at the centre of a substantial multinational air-training event. The participation of multiple foreign air forces, the presence of advanced aircraft and the range of planned missions make it an important opportunity for professional exchange.
But the deeper measure of success will emerge after the aircraft depart. Did the exercise improve coordination? Did participating forces identify practical lessons? Were procedures refined? Did the experience strengthen the ability to work together while respecting national differences?
Those questions are less dramatic than aircraft counts, but they are closer to the exercise’s purpose.
There is also a wider point for India’s defence ambitions. International cooperation and domestic capability-building are not competing goals. India can learn from partners while continuing to develop its own aircraft, systems, personnel and industrial base. The challenge is to convert exposure and experience into sustained improvements.
A multinational exercise is not a trophy cabinet. It is a working environment — and its value depends on what participants take home.
Learning Point
When reading about a multinational military exercise, separate three things: participation, interoperability and operational outcomes. The presence of foreign aircraft demonstrates participation. Joint training creates opportunities to improve interoperability. Actual operational outcomes require evidence beyond the exercise itself. Keeping those categories distinct makes it easier to understand what the event achieves — and what it does not prove.
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