NEW DELHI: India is now all set to host its first-ever multi-nation

air combat

exercise “Tarang Shakti”, with 67 fighter jets and military aircraft from 10 countries and observers from another 18, to strengthen

military interoperability

and

strategic partnerships

across the globe.
The

IAF

itself will deploy 75 to 80 aircraft for the mega exercise to be held in two phases at Sulur (Tamil Nadu) from August 6 to 14, where Germany, France, UK and Spain will take part, and then at Jodhpur with the other countries from August 29 to September 12.

“The overarching aim of the landmark

Tarang Shakti

exercise is to build mutual trust, explore further avenues for interoperability and inculcate each other’s best practices, strengthening our strategic relations with

friendly foreign countries

,” IAF vice chief Air Marshal A P Singh said on Wednesday.
“The exercise will also showcase India’s military prowess as well as development of indigenous capabilities and capacity in the drive for `Atmanirbharta’ (self-reliance),” he added.

India’s prominent strategic partners like the US, UK, France, Australia and Germany, all deeply concerned about China’s muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific, will be deploying their fighters and other aircraft for the exercise. So will UAE, Singapore, Greece, Spain and Bangladesh.
Two other major strategic partners of India, Russia and Israel, however, have expressed their inability to take part in the exercise, enmeshed as they are in the ongoing conflicts with Ukraine and Hamas, respectively. Of the 51 countries invited, around 30 will be taking part, either with aircraft or observers, in Tarang Shakti.

Soon after the air combat exercise, India will also host the top-tier Malabar naval exercise with the other ‘Quad’ countries, the US, Japan and Australia, in the Bay of Bengal in October, amid China expanding strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean Region, as was first reported by TOI last month.
At Tarang Shakti, IAF will be deploying frontline fighters like Rafale, Sukhoi-30MKI, Mirage-2000, MiG-29, Jaguar and Tejas as well as Rudra and Prachand helicopters, C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, IL-78 mid-air refuelers and AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) for the exercise.
India will also host a defence exposition on the sidelines of the exercise, with DRDO, defence PSUs, private companies and start-ups taking part, as well as arrange visits of foreign officials to defence R&D and technical hubs at Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
“The Indian defence-industrial ecosystem as well indigenous products like the Tejas fighter, Prachand light combat helicopters, Dhruv advanced light helicopters and Akash surface-to-air missile systems will be showcased. There will be a lot of observers from our neighbours and smaller countries (including from Africa),” Air Marshal A P Singh said.
The IAF has set a scorching pace in hosting or taking part in international exercises, notching up 91 of them – 42 of them abroad — since 2001. These include multi-nation exercises like the ‘Red Flag’ in the US, ‘Iniochos’ in Greece, ‘Orion’ in France, ‘Blue Flag’ in Israel, ‘Pitch Black’ in Australia, and ‘Desert Flag’ in the UAE recently.