India is set to host a first-of-its-kind, largest multinational air exercise called ‘Tarang Shakti 2024’, the Indian Air Force (IAF) annouced during a press conference today in New Delhi, stating that 51 countries have been invited to take part in the exercise that will take place in two phases in August and September 2024.
“51 countries were invited to take part in the exercise Tarang Shakti,” Air Marshal AP Singh, Vice Chief of Air Staff said, adding that “one of the main focus of the exercise would be to showcase the indigenous capabilities under Aatmanirbharta.”
The focus of Tarang Shakti will be on enhancing mutual understanding of air power, realistic operations, and showcasing indigenous defense equipment.
Phase-I of the exercise will take place at Air Force Station Sulur in Tamil Nadu on 6-14 August and will feature the air forces of Germany, France, Spain and UK participating.
Phase-II will take place at Air Force Station Jodhpur, Rajasthan from 29 August – 14 September and will include participation of Australia, Bangladesh, Singapore, Greece, UAE and USA along with 18 Countries as observers.
The air exercises will act as a prime opportunity to strengthen military ties, share best practices, and highlight ‘Make in India’.
The US is taking part in the Tarang Shakti 2024 but without the F-35s. The country will participate with their F-16 and A-10 aircraft, Air Marshal AP Singh said.
The 51 nations that have been invited for the Air Exercise
The nations invited are friendly foreign countries with whom the IAF interacts regularly and has a certain degree of interoperability, IAF officials had said. The list includes:
From Africa
1 – Algeria
2 – Angola
3 – Botswana
4 – Ethiopia
5 – Egypt
6 – Ivory Coast
7 – Kenya
8 – Morocco
9 – Mozambique
10 – Nigeria
11 – South Africa
12 – Tanzania
13 – Tunisia
From Asia
14 – Armenia
15 – Bangladesh
16 – Brunei
17 – Cambodia
18 – Indonesia
19 – Japan
20 – Kazakhstan
21 – Kyrgyzstan
22 – Laos
23 – Malaysia
24 – Maldives
25 – Nepal
26 – Oman
27 – Philippines
28 – Republic of Korea (RoK)
29 – Saudi Arabia
30 – Singapore
31 – Sri Lanka
32 – Tajikistan
33 – Thailand
34 – Turkmenistan
35 – UAE
36 – Uzbekistan
37 – Vietnam
From Australia
38 – Australia
From Europe
39 – France
40 – Germany
41 – Greece
42 – Italy
43 – Spain
44 – Sweden
45 – UK
From North America
46 – USA
From South America
47 – Argentina
48 – Brazil
49 – Chile
50 – Colombia
51 – Venezuela
At the IAF press conference in New Delhi, Group Captain Ashish Dogra said: “Indian Air Force conducted the longest ferry of aircraft to Alaska in the US for Exercise Red Flag. Now we are conducting the first multinational exercise Tarang Shakti in India.”
The Air Force said that Agniveers will also be taking part in the Tarang Shakti 2024. However, no specific duty has been given to them, but as per their trade and deployment in the concerned base, they will also be taking part in the exercise.
 annouced during a press conference today in New Delhi, stating that 51 countries have been invited to take part in the exercise that will take place in two phases in August and September 2024.){kind=link}