Indian Air Force to demonstrate firepower in Exercise Vayushakti-26 at Pokhran on 27 February 2026

Key facts

• Exercise Vayushakti-26 will be held at Pokhran Air-to-Ground Range, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan on 27 February 2026.
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) will deploy 77 fighter aircraft, 43 helicopters and eight transport aircraft.
• A total of 277 weapons and 12,000 kg of explosives will be used during day, dusk and night missions.
• Platforms participating include Tejas, Rafale, Jaguar, Mirage-2000, Su-30MKI, MiG-29, Hawk, C-130J, C-295, C-17, Chetak, ALH MK-IV, Mi-17 IV, LCH, Apache, Chinook and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA).
• Advanced weapon systems such as Short Range Loitering Munitions (SRLM), Akash, SpyDer and Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS) will be showcased.
• The exercise reaffirms the IAF’s role in long-range precision targeting and multi-domain operations using indigenous platforms in line with ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.