For First Time, US F-35s Will Join Exercise in India

Six U.S. Air Force F-35A fighters and 200-plus Airmen deployed to India on Sept. 26 for their first appearance in a large-scale exercise on Indian soil.

Exercise Tarang Shakti will run from Sept. 26 to Oct. 12, according to the Indian Air Force, with eight countries contributing aircraft. First held in 2024, the exercise is India’s largest multinational aerial training event.

U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and Pacific Air Forces confirmed the arrival of the F-35s and released images of them at Jodhpur Air Force Station. The aircraft are from the 13th Fighter Squadron at Misawa Air Base, Japan.

This is the first time the USAF has deployed F-35s for an exercise in India, although USAF did previously display the Lightning II at Aero India, a large-scale air show. In 2024, the Air Force sent A-10s to Tarang Shakti in 2024, and USAF has sent F-15s and F-16s to participate in previous editions of Cope India, a major joint air combat exercise.

The U.S. and Indian air forces have built up their interaction in recent years. A B-1 bomber landed in India for the first time for Aero India in 2021, then returned for its first exercise at Cope India 2023. Last year, President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. might eventually sell F-35s to India, but little has been said on that topic since.

On the flip side of U.S.-India relations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also worked to build ties with Russia and China. Modi met with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping earlier this month at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit, at which he stressed better relations with both Russia and China.

The Indian Air Force has an eclectic mix of aircraft, including indigenous HAL Tejas light combat aircraft, Russian Su-30s, French Rafales and Mirage 2000s, American C-17s, and more. Russia has also pitched its new Su-57 fighter to India—the Su-57 and F-35 were both at Aero India in 2025.