Key Highlights
- The Indian Air Force executed a large‑scale, day‑and‑night drill at the Pokhran Field Firing Range, observed by President Droupadi Murmu.
- Precision strike missions were synchronised across fighters, attack helicopters and the Akash SAM system, replicating realistic combat environments.
- Night‑time operations demonstrated advanced targeting under low‑visibility conditions, confirming multi‑domain readiness.
Detailed Insights
The 2026 edition of Exercise Vayu Shakti unfolded across a three‑kilometre combat zone in the western Rajasthan desert, just a short distance from the India‑Pakistan frontier. The scenario mimicked the challenges faced during Operation Sindoor, incorporating hostile assets such as simulated runways, radar sites, bunker complexes, armored convoys, ammunition depots, communication nodes and terror‑training camps.
Frontline fighters – the Sukhoi Su‑30MKI, SEPECAT Jaguar and Dassault Mirage 2000 – led the air‑to‑ground assault. A Su‑30 executed a mock strike on a terror camp while Jaguars and Mirages suppressed enemy air‑defence installations, illustrating tightly coordinated strike patterns.
Helicopter units, including the AH‑64E Apache, Mil Mi‑17V5 and HAL Rudra, provided close‑air support, engaging tank clusters, bunker positions and logistical hubs. Their operations were tightly fused with the launch of the indigenous Akash surface‑to‑air missile, underscoring India’s self‑reliant missile capability.
The night phase tested the IAF’s ability to strike with pinpoint accuracy despite reduced visibility, leveraging modern avionics and sensor suites. Integrated execution between fighters and rotary‑wing platforms highlighted the force’s preparedness for complex, high‑intensity, multi‑domain conflicts.
Key Concepts
- Integrated Air Defence (IAD): The seamless linking of fighter aircraft, helicopters and surface‑to‑air missiles to detect, track and neutralise hostile aerial and ground threats.
- Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD): Tactical operations aimed at degrading or destroying an adversary’s radar and missile systems to achieve air‑superiority.
- Network‑Centric Warfare: Real‑time sharing of sensor data and command directives across diverse platforms to enable coordinated action.
- Night‑Attack Capability: The use of infrared, radar‑guided and other low‑visibility targeting technologies to conduct effective strikes after dark.
- Indigenous Missile System (Akash): A domestically developed surface‑to‑air missile designed to protect airspace against a variety of aerial threats.