India will showcase its growing indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities to air force leaders from around 40 countries during the upcoming Tarang Shakti exercise, with visits planned to key aerospace and defence production facilities as New Delhi steps up efforts to expand military exports and international partnerships.
The visiting military leaders will be taken to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) facilities in Bengaluru on September 29, followed by a visit to the C295 aircraft production line in Vadodara on October 3, officials familiar with the plans said. The visits will run alongside Tarang Shakti, the Indian Air Force’s largest multilateral combat exercise, scheduled in Jodhpur from September 26 to October 12.
Manufacturing on display
The industry visits are intended to give foreign air force leaders a closer look at India’s aerospace manufacturing ecosystem, indigenous defence technologies and production capabilities. HAL and BEL form a significant part of the country’s state-owned defence manufacturing base, while the C295 programme represents a major attempt to establish an aircraft manufacturing ecosystem involving the private sector in India.
The C295 final assembly line in Vadodara is part of the programme to supply 56 aircraft to the IAF. While the first 16 aircraft are being delivered from Spain, the remaining 40 are to be manufactured in India by Tata Advanced Systems in partnership with Airbus.
The visits will give foreign delegations an opportunity to examine Indian manufacturing capabilities at a time when the government is increasingly positioning defence exports alongside domestic self-reliance as a central part of its military-industrial strategy.
IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit said India was no longer looking only at what it could acquire from other countries but also at what it could develop, manufacture and offer to international partners.
Tarang Shakti platform
Tarang Shakti will provide India with a major platform for military engagement with participating and observing air forces. Apart from complex air combat and interoperability exercises, the gathering will bring senior military leadership from several countries together at a time when air forces globally are reassessing capabilities amid the rapid development of drones, long-range weapons, electronic warfare and networked combat systems.
India hosted the inaugural edition of Tarang Shakti in 2024 in two phases at Sulur in Tamil Nadu and Jodhpur in Rajasthan. The exercise brought together several foreign air forces and was conceived as India’s flagship multinational air exercise.
The 2026 edition is expected to be larger, with participation and representation from around 40 countries. The IAF will use the exercise not only to strengthen operational cooperation with partner air forces but also to highlight India’s expanding defence industrial base.
Exports in focus
The initiative comes weeks after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released Raksha, a 10-year strategic roadmap for India’s defence diplomacy. The framework seeks to strengthen military partnerships while giving greater momentum to the country’s defence exports.
India has increasingly sought to market domestically produced defence platforms and systems abroad as its manufacturing capabilities expand. The government has also encouraged defence public sector companies and private manufacturers to pursue overseas markets while increasing indigenous content in equipment supplied to the armed forces.
Bringing senior foreign air force officers directly to production facilities is expected to provide Indian manufacturers an opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities to potential international customers and partners.
The combination of Tarang Shakti’s operational engagement and visits to manufacturing facilities will allow India to project two aspects of its growing defence profile — the IAF’s ability to operate with multiple international partners and the country’s ambition to emerge as a larger producer and exporter of military equipment.