Rajnath Singh said future military power will depend on decision-making speed, not platform numbers.
He stressed indigenous defence technology and the growing role of AI, drones, cyber and electronic warfare.
Tarang Shakti 2026 brought together seven countries and 32 observer nations to boost military cooperation.
Future military superiority will depend not merely on the number of platforms a country possesses, but on how quickly it can detect threats, process information, make decisions and translate them into action, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday.
Addressing participants of the second edition of Exercise Tarang Shakti 2026 at Air Force Station Jodhpur in Rajasthan, the defence minister underscored the growing importance of speed, situational awareness and decision-making in modern warfare.
Hosted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from September 26 to October 12, the multinational air exercise Tarang Shakti 2026 brought together air forces from seven friendly foreign countries, Australia, Bangladesh, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, alongside representatives from 32 observer nations.
“Future military power will be defined less by the number of platforms we possess. It will be determined by the speed of sensing, understanding, deciding and acting,” the defence minister said.
Changing Nature Of Warfare
Singh said warfare was changing profoundly and now extended beyond land, sea and air to space, cyber, the electromagnetic spectrum and the information domain. Pointing to the growing influence of drones, unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and long-range precision weapons, the minister said that speed, precision, information and integration had become the defining attributes of military capability.
A nation, Singh said, must be able to produce its own weapons and critical technologies to sustain itself in prolonged conflicts.
He said Atmanirbhar Bharat did not mean isolation, but the ability to design, develop, manufacture, maintain and upgrade critical defence technologies at home.
Tracing the Indian Air Force’s journey, he said it had grown from a force with limited resources at Independence into a modern aerospace power with advanced aircraft, precision weapons, sophisticated sensors, integrated networks and increasingly indigenous technology.
He cited the Tejas fighter, the Dhruv, Rudra, Prachand and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) platforms, the Akash air defence system and AESA radars.
He also described the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme as an important step towards mastering fifth-generation stealth fighter technology and stressed the need for advanced aero-engine development and co-production.
Technology And International Cooperation
India, he said, was keen to cooperate with like-minded countries in research, co-development, co-production, maintenance, training and innovation.
“The defence relationships of the future will be about technology and trust, not just about platforms,” he said.
India must be able to act independently when required, he added, while operating effectively with other nations when their interests converge.
On the exercise itself, Singh said it turned the principles of capability, technology, interoperability and trust into operational experience. Participating air forces flew alongside each other, exchanged operational knowledge and compared procedures, platforms, doctrines and approaches to mission planning.
“Different nations. Different aircraft. Different experiences. But one sky. That is the message of Tarang Shakti,” he said. He asked the IAF to build the lessons into its training, tactics, technology, doctrine and future capability development.
Notably, the first edition was held in 2024. This year’s exercise featured combat, transport, surveillance and air-to-air refuelling assets.
