India will host the first-of-its-kind and largest multinational air exercise, Tarang Shakti-2024, the Indian Air Force (IAF) announced on Wednesday, saying that 51 countries have been invited to take part in the exercise that will take place in two phases in August and September.
“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.”
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, conducted by the IAF, 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 to be held at Sulur and Jodhpur.”
“Make-in-India equipment including LCA Tejas, LCH Prachand and other weapon systems would be showcased at the event exercise,” Captain Dogra further informed.
The Air Force said that Agniveer 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.
Tarang Shakti 2024 – Dates of Phase 1 and 2
Phase-I will be from August 6 to 14 at Air Force Station in Tamil Nadu’s Sulur and will feature Germany, France, Spain, and the UK.
Phase-II will be held between August 29 and September 14 at Air Force Station Jodhpur and include Australia, Bangladesh, Singapore, Greece, UAE and USA along with 18 Countries as observers.
The US is taking part in the Tarang Shakti 2024 but without the F-35. The country will participate with their F-16 and A-10 aircraft, Air Marshal AP Singh said.
“There will also be an exhibition of Made in India at both Sulur and Jodhpur during the exercise,” Air Marshal AP Singh said adding that the focus of Tarang Shakti 2024 is on enhancing mutual understanding of air power, realistic operations, and showcasing indigenous defense equipment.
Countries invited
Air Marshal AP Singh, said Russia is among the 51 countries invited for Tarang Shakti but they are not participating “due to their own ongoing conflict back home”.
Israel has not been invited for the exercise, the Air Force said.
Which are the 51 countries invited for Tarang Shakti 2024?
The nations invited are friendly foreign countries with whom the IAF interacts regularly and has a certain degree of interoperability, IAF officials had said.
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
As many as 10 countries have confirmed, 30 countries to attend and 18 countries will participate as observers.
Which are the 10 countries that have confirmed to attend Tarang Shakti 2024?
1 – Australia
2 – Bangladesh
3 – France
4 – Germany
5 – Greece
6 – Singapore
7 – Spain
8 – UAE
9 – UK
10 – USA
According to a report by The Hindu, Tarang Shakti was earlier planned to be held at the end of 2023, but got deferred.
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