Jodhpur: India and Japan are set to deepen air-combat cooperation as the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) arrives in India for the second edition of Exercise Veer Guardian 26, scheduled at Air Force Station Jodhpur from September 9 to 22.
Two JASDF C-2 transport aircraft have already landed at Jodhpur carrying the Japanese contingent. The exercise will focus on air-combat manoeuvring, tactical proficiency, interoperability and exchange of operational practices.
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The exercise marks an important milestone in India-Japan defence cooperation: JASDF fighter aircraft will operate from an Indian airbase for the first time.
The exercise marks an important milestone in India-Japan defence cooperation: JASDF fighter aircraft will operate from an Indian airbase for the first time.
Japanese F-2 fighters from the 8th Air Wing at Tsuiki are expected to participate alongside Indian Air Force assets. The deployment provides both sides an opportunity to train in a different operational environment and improve coordination in complex air-combat scenarios.
Veer Guardian follows the inaugural edition held in Japan in 2023, where the two air forces conducted air-combat manoeuvring, interception and air-defence training.
The exercise comes shortly after the India-Japan Defence Ministers' Meeting in August, where both sides agreed to make bilateral exercises more complex, integrate unmanned systems and pursue joint training opportunities at short notice.
The two countries are also establishing a working group covering operational, intelligence, equipment, technology and defence-industrial cooperation, signalling that military exercises are becoming part of a wider strategic framework.
For India and Japan, stronger air-force interoperability adds another layer to their Special Strategic and Global Partnership and wider efforts to support a free and open Indo-Pacific.
While Veer Guardian is a bilateral exercise, its significance extends beyond the skies over Rajasthan: repeated high-end training helps build trust, interoperability and the ability to operate alongside a key Indo-Pacific partner.
Veer Guardian 26 is therefore not just about fighter jets training together—it is about turning India-Japan strategic alignment into practical military capability.
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