Six American F-35 fighter jets flew in India this month — the first time ever in an Indian military exercise. But when reporters asked India’s Air Force chief whether America would sell India the jet, his reply was a sharp joke: “Your people don’t even let us go near the aircraft, and you are talking about selling it to us.” Here’s the full story.
Short answer: Six US F-35s took part in Exercise Tarang Shakti at Jodhpur — the jet’s first exercise alongside Indian forces. The US has made no official offer to sell the F-35 to India, and American crews wouldn’t even show Indian officers the cockpit. IAF chief A P Singh used humour to say exactly what that means.
What happened at Jodhpur
On Saturday, October 10, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh shared the stage with General Kevin Schneider, commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, at the closing ceremony of Exercise Tarang Shakti-2026 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan (NDTV, October 10).
Asked if the US had made an official offer to sell F-35s to India, Singh smiled and said: “Your people don’t even let us go near the aircraft, and you are talking about selling it to us.”
He also revealed how little access India got. The Americans did not show Indian officers the F-35’s cockpit, but they did let Indian jets fly in close formation with it. Singh said this is simply how countries protect their most sensitive military technology (NDTV, October 10). The bottom line: the US has made no official offer to sell the F-35 to India (Rediff, October 11).
Singh also spoke about Russia’s offer. Russia has proposed selling India its Su-57 fifth-generation fighter, but “no decision has been made” on whether India even wants to evaluate it. “Once the decision is conveyed to us (by the government), we will evaluate how well it meets our requirements,” he said (Deccan Chronicle, October 10).
What Tarang Shakti is
Tarang Shakti is the Indian Air Force’s big multinational air exercise — war games in the sky with friendly countries. The 2026 edition is only the second one; the first was held in 2024.
This year’s exercise ran from September 26 to October 12 at the Jodhpur airbase in Rajasthan, under the theme “Power in Partnership” (The Statesman, September 27). Eight foreign air forces took part with their aircraft: the United States, France, Germany, Australia, Greece, the UAE, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Another 32 countries sent observers — a sign of how many nations want to train with India (NDTV Profit, October 2026).
The line-up was serious. Besides the six American F-35s, there were French Rafales, German Eurofighters, UAE F-16s, transport planes, and air-to-air refuelling tankers. India flew its Rafales, Su-30MKIs, Mirage 2000s, Jaguars, MiG-29s, and the home-built Tejas (The Statesman, September 27). They practised long-range and close-range air combat, mid-air refuelling, and rescue missions.
One detail worth knowing: F-35s have visited Indian skies before — they flew at the Aero India air show in Bengaluru in 2025. But this is the first time the jet has trained alongside Indian forces in an actual exercise.
Why the F-35 is such a big deal
“Fifth generation” is the label for the newest type of fighter jet. The F-35’s superpower is stealth. In plain words: its shape and special coating make it very hard for enemy radar to spot — like wearing an invisibility cloak against radar waves.
It also hides its weapons inside its body instead of hanging them under the wings, which keeps its shape clean and hard to detect. Add powerful sensors that share data with other jets, and you get a plane that can see the enemy long before the enemy sees it.
That’s why America guards it so closely. The technology took decades and billions of dollars to build, and the US decides very carefully who gets near it.
What India gains from this
Even without buying the jet, training next to it is valuable. Indian pilots learned how a stealth fighter actually behaves — how it shows up on radar, how to fly with it, and how to fight against one.
The official point of the exercise is interoperability — a formal word for different air forces learning to fight together as one team (The Statesman, September 27).
And Singh’s joke carried a message too. A joke on stage. A message to Washington: India wants to be treated as a partner, not just a customer kept at arm’s length.
There’s a longer game as well. India is building its own fifth-generation fighter, the AMCA. Flying close to the F-35 shows Indian pilots and engineers exactly what the world’s best stealth jet can do (Rediff, October 11).
What happens next
Six F-35s and more than 200 American personnel came to Jodhpur for the exercise — a deployment confirmed by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor (Global Defence Magazine, September 27). The exercise ended on October 12.
No sale is on the table. Both sides know it. But the next time an F-35 and an Indian jet meet in the sky, India’s pilots will know far more about it than they did a month ago.
Pingback: Pakistan Fires Fatah-2 Hypersonic Missile: What India Must Watch - India Presents