Four Fronts, One Week: India's Military Means Serious Business

Last Updated:February 25, 2026, 16:47 IST

From Himachal Pradesh to Uttarakhand, Indian forces are conducting joint drills with US and Japanese troops, while the Air Force prepares to showcase its strength at Pokhran.

The Indian Armed Forces have had a packed week. Four exercises running in parallel, across mountains, forests, open skies, and open water, painting a picture of a military that is not just preparing for the future but is also actively invested in rehearsing it.

Let’s start with the hills. The 16th edition of Exercise Vajra Prahar kicked off on February 24 at the Special Forces Training School in Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh, and runs through March 16. India has put 45 Special Forces personnel on the ground, soldiers trained for high-altitude infiltration through HALO and HAHO jumps, covert reconnaissance, and counter-terrorism operations in terrain that defeats most conventional units. Facing them in training are 12 soldiers from the US Army’s Green Berets, specifically one full Operational Detachment Alpha, or ODA. An ODA is the core unit of Green Beret operations, with each soldier holding a specialist role in weapons, medicine, communications, or engineering. A full ODA showing up means the Americans are taking this seriously. The exercise focuses on joint mission planning, tactical drills, and building the kind of trust that makes two different armies function as one.

Moving east to Uttarakhand; at the Foreign Training Node in Chaubattia, Exercise Dharma Guardian 2026 is running simultaneously from February 24 to March 9. This is the 7th edition of India’s joint military exercise with Japan, and it has been quietly maturing into one of the more significant bilateral training programmes in the region. Indian Army troops and soldiers from the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force are working through counter-insurgency and jungle warfare drills, reinforcing a defence relationship that has been picking up real momentum in recent years.

Down south, the story shifts to the sea. On February 24, Headquarters Southern Air Command conducted Exercise ‘Kalari Leap’ across the Lakshadweep and Minicoy archipelago, with landings at Agatti airport. This was a high-tempo joint maritime exercise involving the Indian Air Force’s Southern Air Command, the Armed Forces Special Operations Division, and the Indian Coast Guard. The exercise brought together airborne insertions, amphibious assaults, anti-ship strikes, and maritime search and rescue operations. Platforms deployed included the An-32 transport aircraft, Mi-17V5 helicopters, and Su-30MKI fighter jets. Coast Guard ships, Gemini boats, and Dornier 228 aircraft rounded out the force package. AFSOD special forces executed Combat Free Fall insertions and amphibious assault missions as part of the drill. The exercise tested India’s ability to project coordinated air, maritime, and special operations force across its island territories simultaneously.

And then there is Vayu Shakti. On February 27, the Indian Air Force is scheduled to hold its annual firepower demonstration at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan. Fighter jets and precision munitions in a live-fire showcase that needs no translation.

Four exercises. Mountains, forests, islands, and desert. India is training on every terrain it might ever need to fight on, and it’s doing it all at once.

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