- 8 minutes ago
The Indian Air Force is hosting the multinational air exercise Tarang Shakti in Rajasthan, bringing together air forces from Australia, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, alongside over 30 observer nations. For the first time, US fifth-generation F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters are participating in tactical missions from an Indian base. The IAF has fielded frontline combat assets including Rafale, Su-30MKI, Mirage 2000, Jaguar, Tejas, and MiG-29 fighters. Military aviation experts evaluate the strategic and tactical implications of exercising alongside stealth platforms, noting how radar cross-sections, integrated air defences, and multi-domain operations impact modern warfare. The discussion examines challenges surrounding potential aircraft acquisitions, including end-use monitoring and supply conditionalities, while stressing India's focus on developing the indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft. Experts also highlight evolving battlefield lessons from global conflicts, where manned-unmanned teaming, combat drones, and electronic warfare operate alongside manned fighter jets.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Future wars are being war-gamed in the skies of Rajasthan.
00:04Wars being fought today and perhaps wars of the future.
00:08And they will be very different from the traditional employment of air power.
00:12Platforms and technologies are changing in midst of conflict.
00:16Hello and welcome to a special edition of Battle Cry.
00:19I'm Gaurav Savant.
00:21Air forces of seven friendly nations, Australia, United States, United Arab Emirates,
00:26France, Germany, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have joined the Indian Air Force for Exercise Tarang Shakti.
00:33More than 30 additional countries are attending Exercise Tarang Shakti as observers.
00:39What's very interesting as part of this edition of Tarang Shakti,
00:44the US fifth generation stealth fighter jet, the F-35A.
00:49These fighter jets are participating in Exercise Tarang Shakti for the first time.
00:54The fifth generation stealth fighters.
00:56The IAF has fielded its entire inventory from the Rafales to the Mirage 2000s,
01:02from the Jaguar deep penetration strike aircraft to the Tejas light combat aircraft,
01:07MiG-29 air superiority fighters and Su-30M KIs, the air dominance fighters.
01:12Major combat and military aviation platforms taking part in this exercise from overseas.
01:17They include the F-35 Lightning IIs, the Rafales of the French Air Force, F-16s, A-400M, the Atlas,
01:29four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft.
01:33And of course, this aircraft combines the tactical and strategic airlift capabilities.
01:37Then the MRTT, multi-role aerial refueling and transport aircraft.
01:42These have been derived from the Airbus A-330-200.
01:47Warhorse, of course, in different configurations.
01:50The C-130, the C-130J, then the KC-30A Hercules.
01:54And this is a specialized multi-role aerial refueling tanker and tactical transport aircraft variant
02:01developed, again, from the iconic C-130 Hercules platform.
02:05All of these are part of this exercise.
02:08The U.S. Pacific Air Force is participating with six F-35A Lightning IIs assigned to the 13th fighter squadron
02:16at Misawa Air Base in Japan.
02:19The U.S. is also bringing one KC-135R strato tanker assigned to the 909th air refueling squadron,
02:27again, in Japan.
02:28The exercise is more than just a display of AIPA, more than just an air show.
02:35The Air Forces are seeing heavy action in different theatres of war,
02:39and they are conducting combined training.
02:42Their aim is to develop a shared understanding of multilational operations.
02:48Before I get you more on exercise Tarang Shakti,
02:51let's listen in to Air Marshal Ashutosh Deekshit,
02:55Vice Chief of Air Staff, on these exercises.
02:59Tarang Shakti 26 is the net logical step.
03:03But Tarang Shakti is not an aircraft display alone.
03:07It is about what happens when these aircraft operate together,
03:11along with the aircraft who are behind these machines.
03:16The world around us, as you know, is changing very, very rapidly.
03:21The character of warfare is changing.
03:24Recent conflicts have demonstrated the importance of precision, speed, integrated air defense,
03:32unmanned systems, economic warfare, information dominance, space-enabled capabilities,
03:39and the ability to bring all this together in a multi-domain operation.
03:47And joining me now on this special edition of Battle Cry,
03:50amongst the finest voices on military aviation,
03:54Air Marshal Anil Chopra, a veteran Miraj 2000 fighter pilot and strategic advisor,
03:59Society of Indian Defense Manufacturers, Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor,
04:03a geopolitical and defense expert.
04:06And of course, my colleague Sandeep Unnithan, again, a keen aviation enthusiast.
04:10Air Marshal Chopra, the Indian Air Force fighters,
04:13they've flown both against and alongside U.S. Air Force,
04:18including the F-35s and similar drills overseas.
04:21How is Tarang Shakti different?
04:24Will we learn more about stealth fighter operations in our environment?
04:31Gaurav, always a pleasure to be with you on Battle Cry.
04:34And I must mention that, yes, we have flown against the F-35s,
04:38whether it was an exercise pitch black in Australia or the red flag in the U.S.A.
04:43and we have seen the F-35A fly here in the air show in Aero India last year.
04:51But this is the first time any fifth-generation aircraft of any class
04:55is going to take part in an exercise organized by Indian Air Force on Indian soil.
05:00So this is an area which everybody is looking forward to.
05:04Of course, there will be the F-16s, the Rafars of the French Air Force and UAE.
05:09So you have a large number of other aircraft, including the MTA and the other contenders
05:17who are perhaps going to buy for our MTA projects, et cetera.
05:21But the main thing is that we are going to see how we are going to engage a fifth-generation
05:26aircraft.
05:27We know that across the northern border, we have the Chinese already having over 400 fifth-generation aircraft.
05:34Now, whether this aircraft will be using the F-35A,
05:38we will be using some kind of Bloomberg lens to increase the radar cross-section
05:42so that we do not have the real properties of the stealth
05:46or how much of the exercises we will be having total stealth available on the F-35 for particular exercises.
05:54But these exercises are in Shakti 2.
05:56There is going to see a large force engagement.
05:59There will be one-to-one combats.
06:00There will be a day-and-night exercise.
06:04It's a triennial exercise.
06:05The last one held two years back, though it had to be done a year earlier than that.
06:10And this is an exercise with the young pilots, new crew of all the countries are looking forward.
06:16Some of these people have already met them here when they were transiting through Delhi, some of them.
06:22And I find a great amount of excitement, great amount of learning for all these people also,
06:27for the administrative staff to manage a week exercise like this in Jyotapur,
06:31and for the technical people to maintain.
06:34Of course, we have great experience in AeroIndia,
06:36where maintaining a large number of aeroplanes has been possible.
06:39Though this is very exciting, no doubt.
06:41But Air Marshal Kapoor, what do we gain with the F-35's part of tactical mission flying off an Indian
06:47airbase?
06:48Do we learn more about where we stand vis-à-vis a fifth-generation U.S. stealth fighter?
06:56See, good evening to you, Gaurav, and to the fellow panelists, and to Air Master Chopra.
07:01It's always a pleasure to be on the show.
07:04The fifth generation, like he just mentioned, are flying for the first time.
07:08It is for the first time the Indian radars, be it the ground radars, be it the airborne radars,
07:16be it our ecosystem, our sensor shooters, our fourth to four-and-a-half-generation fighters,
07:22would be flying alongside a fifth generation.
07:25So how does a fifth generation appear in a large force engagement formation?
07:32How does it operate while operating?
07:35These things would be seen firsthand by our operators.
07:38Of course, they would not transmit the original frequencies,
07:42or they would be using the radars, which are actually not used in combat.
07:47But not besides.
07:49You remember, I did a program a couple of times with you,
07:53when an F-35 was struck in Trivandrum.
07:56Yes.
07:56The kind of guarding that was required to be done.
08:00A pilot sat there at all times.
08:03Each and every part of F-35 is a sensor, including the surface.
08:09So when our people, when we are developing our own Amcar,
08:14when our own engineers, pilots, technicians see this aircraft closed-end,
08:19you know, they would understand what is it all about.
08:23See, in Aero India, a handful of people get an access.
08:26I don't think so they allow anybody to be in the cockpit, leave a set going near.
08:29But here, it is operating right from your base.
08:33So Americans have, in my appreciation, a strategy where they want to promote this aircraft
08:39before we have taken a final decision.
08:41So that's why they sent it for an exercise.
08:43Also, like they have an aggressor scorn in U.S., when we have seen, you know, F-16s fighting against
08:52another F-16.
08:53The Turkish F-16s engage in an actual combat with Greek F-16s.
08:58So the aggressive force in U.S. has an F-16.
09:04Now, there may be a situation wherein a fifth generation, both like Marshall Chopra said,
09:12will be having in no time, say by next year, our Western adversary and Northern adversary may have a fifth
09:18generation fighter.
09:19No, no, but that's very interesting that you mentioned that it will be going up against maybe a Su-30
09:24MKI or a Mirage 2000 or an LCA.
09:27And how are we comparing with our adversaries getting the FGFA?
09:31Sandeep, can we look at these exercises as capability demonstration by the U.S.
09:37when it comes to the F-35s or the French when it comes to Rafals?
09:41Is there a sales pitch in this?
09:44Because India is now focusing on own AMCA.
09:47Why are we going for additional Rafals?
09:51Well, Gaurav, there's no doubt about it.
09:52This is one of the most concerted U.S. pushes to get India interested in the F-35 fifth generation
09:59stealth aircraft.
10:00Now, the offer was made by President Donald Trump to Prime Minister Modi at the White House in February of
10:062025.
10:08But a lot of water has flown down the Ganges and the Potomac since then.
10:13India-U.S. ties in October 2026 are not what they were a year and a half ago.
10:20And, you know, the F-35 now comes with a lot of strings attached to it.
10:26You can't integrate your own weapons.
10:29You don't have access to the software codes.
10:32And the most important part about it, there are political conditionalities attached to it.
10:37And that's one of the reasons that if you see all of India's fighter buys in this century
10:41have been with countries that we have a very big political relationship with.
10:46Countries that we trust.
10:48France, for instance, and the Russian Federation.
10:50The U.S. has, of course, supplied us engines for the fighter aircraft,
10:54but we have not bought any American fighters until now.
10:56We've looked at the F-16, the F-15, we've looked at the F-18,
11:02but we haven't bought any of those aircraft for various reasons of price
11:05and, most importantly, the political equation with the United States.
11:10Now, the F-35 coming to India is a very big deal.
11:15You know, this is not just one aircraft at an aero show
11:19or one aircraft stuck at Trivandrum as it was last year.
11:23Six aircraft coming in for a multinational exercise is a very big message.
11:27No, very interesting.
11:28And M.A.S.H.L. Chopra,
11:29this exercise should help us better understand the working of a fifth-generation fighter jet
11:35in a near-combat simulated scenario because the IAF may not get to see the classified envelope
11:41as both you and, you know, Air Marshal Kapoor mentioned.
11:44But does this help us better understand how we deal with the Chinese fifth-generation fighter jet,
11:51the ones that the Chinese Air Force PLAAF operates, and the ones they'll give to Pakistan?
11:58Undoubtedly, Gaurab, but let me first tell you that whether F-35 is an offer is a big question mark.
12:05You know, they had earlier, Turkey was part of the F-35 program,
12:09but because they had S-400s, they were removed from the program.
12:14If that is what they'll do to a NATO member, then you can imagine the importance.
12:18And even when such an offer was made by President Trump last year,
12:23it was more or less an off-the-cuff remark, no professional interactions had taken place at working level.
12:30So, therefore, whether F-35 is an offer remains a question mark because we are not going to let go
12:36of S-400s.
12:37In fact, we are going to invest in more S-400s, and therefore, whether F-35 will ever be on
12:43offer.
12:44I also agree with Sandeep that, you know, letting the Americans get into our fighter ecosystem,
12:51most analysts, all of us, feel that it should not be done because there are end-use issues with the
12:58Americans,
12:59and therefore, subsequently, if we were to have one, they could put restrictions for us to use against a particular
13:06adversary.
13:07So, therefore, on that count, F-35 or any fighter from the American side remains a question mark.
13:14But as far as training is concerned, absolutely.
13:17You know, ground-based radars, air traffic controllers, pilots in the air, you know,
13:23the AEWC will be flying, refuelers will be flying.
13:26Everybody, all the sensors will be active, and they will be looking at this aircraft, you know, very, very closely.
13:33Even on the ground, there will be access.
13:36We have in the Aero India, some of our senior officers have got into the cockpit, but certainly, now there
13:41will be technicians, engineers, everybody will get to see.
13:45And in the air, there will be a lot of learning value.
13:49You will be, you know, different types of radars, airborne radars, whether they will be able to see the F
13:54-35 or not, and what range will they see.
13:58All that is going to add to a great training value for all our crew.
14:02You know, that is, if that's security envelope, that's a very interesting point that you bring, and let me get
14:07Aymashal Kapoor to elaborate on it.
14:09Tarang Shakti, Aymashal Kapoor, as you were mentioning, would also be an eye-opener or a great learning experience for
14:14our surface-to-air missile systems,
14:17our own radar systems, the IACCS systems.
14:21How far can we detect a stealth fighter?
14:24At what distance can we engage a stealth fighter?
14:28But is there a scenario where, you know, we have our S-400s or our KUSHA, our IACCS versus an
14:36S-35, an F-35?
14:38See, all these things which you're asking must have been factored in the pre-exercise meetings.
14:44Because, like Aymashal Kapoor said, Turkey being a part of NATO was initially being thought of given F-35, which
14:56later, when they bought in S-400s from Russia,
14:59there was a lobby in the U.S. which said that all the information and the envelope and the other
15:04frequency bands would be made available to the Russians.
15:08The S-400 will capture that.
15:10So, the Americans have still not finally decided to sell F-35s to Turkey, though the offer is on.
15:16But you are absolutely right.
15:18Because when our AVAX, our ground radars, the aircrafts which are flying in the formation,
15:28when our own IACCS, which would be controlling this exercise, would be able to discern how to detect a fifth
15:37-generation fighter,
15:38what are the nuances, how—so this information and this knowledge firsthand will help if and when our adversary gets the
15:48fifth-generation.
15:50So, to take that knowledge back firsthand, I feel this is the biggest takeaway from this exercise.
15:58The first campaign, the campaign on 20th February 2026, when the U.S. and Israeli forces overtook on Iran this
16:11year,
16:12had 300 aeroplanes.
16:14And it was led by 40 F-22s and F-35s.
16:18They are the spear edge.
16:22So, any ingress for the first time would be led by the fifth generation.
16:28And six of them together flying in their own airspace, I'm sure, will give valuable lessons to all our people
16:37who are associated with aviation.
16:38Oh, absolutely. And it's so fascinating that the F-35 stealth fighters or the F-22s, they go in first,
16:45as you said, the tip of the spear.
16:48And they go and destroy enemy air defenses or suppress enemy air defenses.
16:51And then the fourth-generation and 4.5-generation fighters go in, in larger numbers.
16:57Sandeep, so great education for air warriors, for fighter pilots, for air defense, for ATC.
17:03Because I don't think we've even carried out an exercise with the Russian Su-57s either.
17:09Well, absolutely, Gaurav.
17:10You know, the fact is that the Su-57 has never exercised with the Air Force.
17:14That is a fact.
17:16We have the Su-57 on offer, but there's still, you know, the Indian Air Force has not made up
17:24its mind on that.
17:25We are, of course, focused on developing the AMCA, but, you know, that is still more than a decade away.
17:30A decade from fighter, you know, full squadron integration and induction.
17:35That is where the F-35 comes in.
17:38It's been spoken of as a Western alternative, a Western fifth-generation fighter alternative.
17:44But for political reasons, this is going to be a very, very sensitive buy.
17:50But in the interim, it's a good opportunity for the Indian Air Force to look at a fifth-generation fighter
17:56aircraft very closely.
17:57Because you have, to the north, an adversity that has over 500 fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
18:03That is, the PLAF and, of course, Pakistan, this possibility, Pakistan could get fifth-generation fighters as well.
18:11These exercises will give the Air Force a chance to look at what kind of threat it would be facing.
18:18You know, like I said, it's one thing to see an aircraft at an air show.
18:22It's another thing to see it in a frontline fighter base.
18:25Fly with it.
18:26Take a close look at it.
18:27Fly with it.
18:28Fly against it.
18:29Realize your vulnerabilities.
18:30It allows you to both defend against fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
18:34And, of course, think of what it could do when it's on your side as well.
18:38So, it's a very important exercise.
18:41Sir, Tarang Shakti...
18:43Taking a very close look at the F-35.
18:46Oh, absolutely.
18:48And, Air Marshal Chopra, how much of future wars will be fought by fighter jets like F-35 stealth fighters
18:56and their BVR, Beyond Visual Range missiles?
18:59And how much?
19:00Because, one, we are talking about this Iran-US war.
19:03The other, when this exercise talks about future wars or current wars where warfare is changing,
19:09how much of it would be unmanned combat aerial vehicles, swarm drones, missiles and rockets all a part of a
19:16kill chain, sir?
19:17You know, firstly, let me also mention, Gaurav, that today in the world, the best fifth-generation aircraft remains F
19:25-35.
19:26It is the best fifth-generation aircraft.
19:28And, therefore, any exercise with the F-35 is an important exercise because we do not know much about Su
19:35-57 actual exercise.
19:37It's very good for displays, but we do not know its stealth capability.
19:41These F-35 is, our radar cross-section is less than that of a ping-pong ball.
19:48You know, you can imagine the size.
19:51I mean, it's a few thousand times lesser radar cross-section than at a fall stroke Su-30.
19:58So, that is the kind of aircraft you are exercising with.
20:01Yes, the future combat stealth is going to be very important for a manned aircraft.
20:06You know, if you see the future aircraft, whether the F-CAS, G-CAP, whether it's the F-47 of
20:14the Americans,
20:15whether it's the sixth-generation aeroplanes of the Chinese, all have a man in the cockpit still.
20:21Though all of them will be MU-MT, that means they will be carrying drones as wingmen along with them
20:27or leading ahead for dangerous missions.
20:30So, manned-unmanned combination moving together.
20:33Correct. But drones have done exceedingly well.
20:37You know, they're a great low-cost offensive solution.
20:42All countries, including India, investing hugely in offensive drones, whether it's kamikaze or even for ISR.
20:50And this is going to be a great combination of manned and drone combinations.
20:56The tasks will be divided between the two.
20:58Man will continue to be in the loop.
21:00That's a general consensus among the strategists and the aviators all over the world, that man cannot be.
21:06In fact, that has been said in the recent Xi Jinping, and Trump also talked about this, that we must
21:13keep the man in the loop.
21:15So, therefore, it's going to be a big exercise.
21:19First time we're going to do an exercise with the fifth-generation aircraft.
21:22And I see a lot of learning lessons coming out in the debriefs that take prison Jodhpur.
21:28Very interesting.
21:31You know, that man will be required, that fighter pilot will be required to be in the cockpit of the
21:37fighter jet,
21:38even though future wars will have more of a fighter plane and an unmanned combat aerial vehicle moving simultaneously,
21:46twinning in operations.
21:48M-U-M-T, as you said, man-unmanned teams operating together.
21:52Air Marshal Kapoor, but the Ukraine war has shown us technology is changing so rapidly in this battlefield.
21:59Drones as weapons, drones as communication, drones as your eye in the sky,
22:06Starlink or LEO, low-earth orbiting satellites guiding this warfare.
22:10So, instead of these very massive, expensive fifth-generation fighter jets,
22:16can we make our own FGFA instead of buying a couple of squadrons and focus more on drones and missiles,
22:24both capabilities where we are trying to make big inroads, can that help us cover this gap?
22:32I'll just take a minute to add to what Air Marshal Chopra just said.
22:37For your viewers, 40 countries, 4-0 countries are participating in Tarang Shakti.
22:44Just see how the stature of our country's air force is growing.
22:49Eight have brought in aeroplanes, 32 countries have sent in observers,
22:52and there is a request from another 30 countries with the Indian Air Force to participate in joint exercises.
22:59Yes. I always say our adversaries in all the wars from now had better equipment, better fighters, better radars than
23:08us.
23:08But in the end, it is the man behind the machine which calls.
23:13When Abhinandan shot down F-16 from a MiG-21,
23:16and you see the composure of Abhinandan when he was taken a POW,
23:20nowhere in the world can you be taught how to, training be given,
23:26how to conduct yourself when you are taken a prisoner of war.
23:30Our people are so well trained, and that's why everybody wants to come in and train with us.
23:35Now, coming specifically to your question,
23:37the drones are in a phase wherein the Russia-Ukraine war is the stress fight for the drone,
23:44like Shahid-136, which created, which had created a hammer in this ongoing conflict,
23:50is undergoing large amount of changes in Russia.
23:54So, in my appreciation, drones would be essential.
23:57I think for the next 10 to 15 years, you cannot take away manned fighters.
24:03You cannot go away with them.
24:05So, the next decade, decade and a half, you can't go away with a fighter pilot?
24:09Yes, you cannot, because we would not have reached…
24:13Sandeep, the last 30 seconds I have on this part of the show,
24:16I quickly want to get you in.
24:18India, very firm that we will push ahead with our own fifth-generation fighter jet,
24:23advanced medium combat aircraft,
24:25but is there an effort to lure us with either the Su-57 and the F-35,
24:30and would we need to as a stopgap,
24:33given what our adversary on the north and the west seem to be getting?
24:39Well, Gonav, India has a mixed fleet.
24:41There are various reasons for that.
24:43You have the Su-30s, which make up the backbone of the fighter fleet,
24:47over 270 of them.
24:49You have the Rafale, which makes the thin edge of that,
24:54thin tip of that fighting spear,
24:56which is the qualitative edge that comes with these aircraft.
24:59And, of course, the Air Force wants more Rafales over the next decade.
25:03And you have the large mass of aircraft, which are the LCA,
25:08the LCA Mark 1s, Mark 1 Alphas, and Mark 2s, and beyond,
25:12and going on, leading on to the AMCA, which is still some time away.
25:15This is essentially the mix that the Indian Air Force is going to be looking at.
25:19Where the F-35 features in this,
25:23that, again, is a huge call that both the Air Force
25:26and the political leadership have to take,
25:29that is it worth a while to buy a fifth-generation fighter aircraft,
25:34which means getting into a relationship with the United States
25:38for decades, 20 or 30 years.
25:40And, you know, all fighter purchases,
25:43Gaurav, our political decisions.
25:45The Indian Air Force will recommend, you know,
25:48a certain platform based on, you know, technical parameters.
25:51But, finally, it is going to be a political call
25:53that the political leadership of India will have to take,
25:56whether this fits our foreign policy requirements,
26:00whether it gives us the kind of leeway,
26:03whether it balances out with our own requirements.
26:05Or, more importantly, our national security requirement,
26:09given the way warfare is changing,
26:10you need to have your own manufacturing bases.
26:14The wars are no longer short, sharp and sweet.
26:17They could go on for years and years,
26:19as we're seeing in most of the battle theatres,
26:21where you need your own fighter planes,
26:23you need your own fighter jet engines,
26:25you need your own manufacturing capabilities.
26:27Perhaps that's a debate for another time.
26:29I want to thank Air Marshal Chopra, Air Marshal Kapoor,
26:32and Sandeep Unnithan for joining me here
26:34on this part of Battle Cry,
26:36where we talk about Tarang Shakti
26:38and what India stands to gain
26:41from carrying out an exercise
26:42with the US fifth-generation fighter jet
26:45and other air forces and their weapons of war.
26:49Many thanks for watching.