&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "F-35 at Tarang Shakti, Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor on what India’s radars will be watching | Defence Pulse")
The Indian Air Force has flown alongside the F-35 in multinational exercises before. Tarang Shakti 2026, however, brings a significant first. The American fifth-generation fighter is participating in a military exercise in Indian airspace, putting it inside India's own training environment alongside the Rafale, Su-30MKI and other combat aircraft. For Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor, former Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force, that distinction creates an opportunity extending well beyond pilots flying alongside the F-35.
F-35 enters India's radar picture
When the IAF participates in exercises overseas, Kapoor explained, it takes fighters, aircrew, transports, refuellers and combat controllers. What India cannot take with it are larger fixed assets such as its radar infrastructure. With foreign aircraft now operating over India, those systems become part of the exercise environment.
Kapoor said India's fixed assets, including radars, will now be exposed to the wide variety of aircraft operating during Tarang Shakti.
That becomes particularly significant with the F-35.
Kapoor said the IAF will be keenly watching the aircraft's stealth characteristics and "how this aircraft is picked up."
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He specifically pointed to how a stealth aircraft appears on India's ground and airborne radars as an area that will be closely observed.
F-35, Rafale and Su-30 in one airspace
Tarang Shakti brings together aircraft of American, European, Russian and Indian origin, and interoperability will be a key focus. Kapoor highlighted the challenge of creating a communications architecture through which fighters from these different inventories can operate together seamlessly.
A close look at fifth-generation technology
India is developing its own fifth-generation fighter through the AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) programme. Exposure to more advanced aircraft would be beneficial, and operating alongside the F-35 could provide India with insights relevant to how the AMCA eventually develops.
Tarang Shakti therefore marks a different kind of F-35 encounter for India. Indian pilots have shared the skies with fifth-generation fighters before. This time, the F-35 is flying over India, inside an environment where the IAF's own fighters, airborne sensors and ground radars will watch it operate firsthand.
