Tarang Shakti 2026: IAF Air Exercise at Jodhpur | CLAT GK

CURRENT AFFAIRS | 11 OCTOBER 2026

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is hosting the second edition of Exercise Tarang Shakti, its flagship multinational air exercise, at Air Force Station Jodhpur. According to the Ministry of Defence release issued through the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Saturday, 10 October 2026, Tarang Shakti 2026 runs from 26 September to 12 October 2026 and brings together the air forces of seven Friendly Foreign Countries (FFCs) — Australia, Bangladesh, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America — along with 32 observer nations.

On 10 October the Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) addressed the participants at Jodhpur. The PIB release, and a report in The Hindu the same evening, describe the exercise as a platform for joint mission planning, operational learning and interoperability between air forces that fly different aircraft under different doctrines. The release sums up its spirit in one line: “Different nations. Different aircraft. Different experiences. But one sky.”

What happened: the key facts

The PIB release confirms that this is the second edition, building on the “success of its inaugural edition in 2024”. The exercise brought together combat, transport, surveillance and air-to-air refuelling capabilities. Indigenous platforms took part, including the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Prachand, which the release presents as evidence of India’s progress in aerospace design, engineering and manufacturing.

Beyond flying, the exercise included professional engagements, industrial visits and cultural interactions — among them yoga sessions, heritage visits and an International Night showcasing the traditions of the participating countries. Photographs released by the US Air Force show, for example, a French Dassault Rafale flying in formation with an IAF Tejas over Jodhpur, and an IAF Su-30MKI landing after a joint training flight.

In his address, the Defence Minister observed that modern warfare now extends beyond land, sea and air into space, cyber, the electromagnetic spectrum and the information domain, and that drones, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and long-range precision weapons increasingly shape military operations. He said future military power “will be determined by the speed of sensing, understanding, deciding, and acting”, and that defence ties of the future “will be about technology and trust, not just about platforms”. He called on the IAF to absorb the lessons of the exercise into its training, tactics, technology and doctrine.

Why a multinational air exercise matters

Air forces rarely fight alone today. Humanitarian relief, evacuation of citizens from conflict zones, maritime security and coalition operations all require aircraft from different countries to share airspace, talk on common procedures and refuel one another. A multinational exercise is the peacetime rehearsal for that. Pilots learn how a partner plans a mission; ground crews learn to handle visiting aircraft; commanders test whether their communication and command arrangements actually work together. That shared capacity is called interoperability, and it is the word the PIB release repeatedly uses.

There is also a diplomatic dimension. Hosting seven participating air forces and 32 observers turns Jodhpur into a showcase for defence diplomacy: it signals India’s capability, builds professional trust, and gives foreign observers a close look at Indian-made platforms. The release links this to Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence, noting the minister’s point that self-reliance “did not mean isolation” but the ability to design, develop, manufacture, maintain and upgrade critical technology at home while cooperating with trusted partners. It also mentions programmes such as the Akash air defence system, the Dhruv, Rudra and Prachand helicopters, the Light Utility Helicopter and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), described as a step towards fifth-generation stealth fighter technology.

The release also connects the exercise to Operation Sindoor, stating that the decisive role of air power in that operation underlines the value of operational preparedness, integrated planning and credible deterrence — and therefore of exercises such as Tarang Shakti.

Reading the participant list

The seven participants span India’s neighbourhood (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka), the Gulf (UAE), Europe (France, Germany) and the Indo-Pacific partners Australia and the USA. For an exam, the most useful habit is to memorise the list as a set and to know which countries are neighbours, which are Quad partners (Australia and the USA; Japan is the fourth Quad member but is not on this participant list), and which are European. Questions often test exactly that kind of odd-one-out reasoning.

Analysis: what the second edition signals

Three points stand out. First, continuity: a second edition turns a one-off event into a recurring Indian-hosted platform, which is how exercises such as Pitch Black acquired their reputation. Second, breadth: 32 observer nations is a large audience, and it widens the circle of air forces that have seen Indian procedures and equipment first-hand. Third, indigenous showcasing: by flying the Tejas and Prachand alongside foreign fighters, the IAF presents home-built platforms in a working environment rather than at a static air show.

The limits are also worth noting. Exercises build familiarity, not alliances; participation does not imply any treaty commitment. Their value lies in procedures and trust that can be drawn on later — in disaster relief, evacuations or coalition tasks — which is precisely the “technology and trust” theme of the minister’s address.