The first phase of India's largest multilateral air exercise 'Tarang Shakti' kicked off at Sulur in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday (August 6). Air forces of four countries have joined the exercise in the first phase. Germany, France, Spain and the UK have brought in their air assets. The Indian Air Force previously said that 51 countries had been invited for the exercise and nearly 30 have taken part. The air exercise will go on till August 14.
Indian Air Force will bed deploying Rafale, LCA Tejas and Mirage 2000 fighter jets for Tarang Shakti. Among other fighter planes taking part in the exercise are F-18s (Australia), F-16 (Greece), Typhoon (Germany), Rafale (France) and more. The US Air Force is taking part in the exercise as well.
Tarang Shakti is aimed at showcasing India's defence prowess and enhancing interoperability of the participating forces.
On Monday, German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann termed the air exercise 'historic'.
"This is the first time that the German Air Force is exercising together with the Indian Air Force, and it is also the first time that it flies in India -- a truly historic moment. This extensive multilateral exercise deepens our security and political ties with India and the region. We are working on a security and defence partnership between our countries," said Ackermann as quoted by Press Trust of India.
"Tarang Shakti is our first exercise with the Indian Air Force in India. We have been working on this for a long time with our Indian partners and now the time has come," said Ingo Gerhartz, Lieutenant General and Inspector of the German Air Force. Gerhartz was quoted by Press Trust of India.
The second phase of the exercise will take place in Rajasthan's Jodhpur. The second phase will begin from August 29 and will go on till September 14. A total of around 150 aircraft will take part in the entire exercise divided in two phases.
