近日，美国F-35隐形战斗机已加入印度战机编队，在巴基斯坦边境附近进行军事演习，这标志着美国最先进的多用途战斗机首次参与在印度举行的联合演习。
US F-35 stealth fighters have joined Indian warplanes for military exercises near the Pakistan border in recent days, marking the first time America’s most advanced multirole combat aircraft has taken part in joint drills in India.
耶鲁大学南亚研究讲师、印度陆军前军官苏尚特·辛格向《亚洲本周》表示，美国战机参与此次演习，“体现了一种难以仅通过官方声明就能建立起来的军事自信与协同作战能力”。
The US jets’ participation in the drills “signals a degree of military confidence and interoperability that is difficult to manufacture through communiques”, Sushant Singh, a South Asian studies lecturer at Yale University and former Indian Army officer, told This Week in Asia.
他还指出：“这也有助于印度将西方的网络化空中力量概念与其混合使用的俄制、法制及国产战机进行比较。”分析人士称，F-35参加“2026年塔朗·沙克蒂”演习，为印度军方提供了了解现代化第五代战斗机运作方式的机会，尤其是在其本国“先进中型战斗机”项目进展缓慢之际。此次演习也成为一个检验跨平台协同作战能力和实战准备度的试验平台。
“It also allows India to compare Western networked air-power concepts with its mixed Russian, French and indigenous fleet.”Analysts say the F-35s’ participation in Exercise Tarang Shakti 2026 offers India’s military insights into how modern, fifth-generation fighters operate, as it struggles to get its own Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft project off the ground. It also serves as a test bed for cross-platform synergy and operational readiness.
据印度国防部称，除美国外，澳大利亚、阿拉伯联合酋长国、法国、德国、斯里兰卡和孟加拉国也参与了此次演习，此外还有多个国家以观察员身份参加。
Apart from the United States, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are taking part in the drills, alongside several observer nations, according to India’s defence ministry.
美国大使塞尔吉奥·戈尔在9月27日的一条社交媒体帖子中确认，六架F-35“闪电II”战斗机及超过200名美国空军人员将加入“2026年塔朗·沙克蒂”演习。演习于9月26日至下周一在拉贾斯坦邦的焦特布尔空军基地举行，该基地距离巴基斯坦边境约200公里（124英里）。
US Ambassador Sergio Gor confirmed in a social media post on September 27 that six F-35 Lightning IIs and more than 200 US Air Force personnel were joining Tarang Shakti 2026, which is being held at Jodhpur Air Force Station in Rajasthan state, about 200km (124 miles) from the Pakistan border, from September 26 until next Monday.
观察者研究基金会安全、战略与技术中心主任萨米尔·帕蒂尔表示，印度官员将把F-35的性能与俄罗斯研制的苏霍伊Su-30MKI战斗机进行对比，后者是印度空军的核心机型。
Sameer Patil, director of the Observer Research Foundation think tank’s Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology, said Indian officials would be measuring the F-35’s performance against the Russian-developed Sukhoi Su-30MKI, which forms the backbone of India’s air force.
“他们还将评估该飞机的隐身特性，”他表示，并指出印度的第五代战斗机项目因实现超精密隐身制造所面临的复杂性，以及难以获得合适的喷气发动机而陷入停滞。
“They will also assess the aircraft’s stealth characteristics,” he said, noting that India’s fifth-generation fighter project had been held up by the complexities of achieving ultra-precise stealth manufacturing, as well as difficulties securing a suitable jet engine.
澳大利亚战略政策研究所的安全分析师兼常驻高级研究员拉杰斯瓦里·皮莱·拉贾戈帕兰也认为，美国第五代战斗机首次以实战状态出现在印度并参与联合演习，为印度飞行员和空军领导人提供了独特的观察与学习机会。
Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a security analyst and resident senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, agreed that the presence of operational fifth-generation US fighters in India for joint drills for the first time offered Indian pilots and air force leaders a unique opportunity to observe and learn.
“同样重要的是，除了F-35之外，还有包括‘阵风’、苏-30MKI和‘忸斯’在内的多款不同型号的印度战斗机共同参与，这将验证不同代际的飞机如何在任务中协同作战，”她说。
“Equally significant is the fact that there are several different [Indian] fighters including Rafales, Su-30MKIs and Tejas alongside the F-35, which will also validate how different aircraft from different generations can operate together in a mission,” she said.
美国总统唐纳德·特朗普去年公开表示，华盛顿正在考虑向印度出售F-35隐身战斗机。但安全分析师奥利·佩卡·苏奥萨在接受《亚洲本周》采访时表示，由于新德里与莫斯科在国防领域关系密切，此举可能性不大。
US President Donald Trump publicly stated last year that Washington was considering selling F-35 stealth fighters to India, but security analyst Olli Pekka Suorsa told This Week in Asia that New Delhi’s close defence ties with Moscow made such a move unlikely.
阿布扎比拉布丹学院的安全学助理教授苏奥萨表示，美国空军很可能还通过安装专门的附加雷达反射器来掩盖F-35的真实雷达特征，从而“将该飞机真正的低可探测性保密”。
The US Air Force was also likely keeping “the aircraft’s true low observability a secret” by masking the F-35s’ true radar profile with the use of specialised, bolt-on radar reflectors, said Suorsa, an assistant professor of security at the Rabdan Academy in Abu Dhabi.
他提到，这类能力通常只在“高度互信的演习中才会展示，例如北约盟友之间、其他F-35操作国之间的演习，或者在战争环境中”。
Such capabilities were typically only “demonstrated in high-trust exercises like those between Nato allies, amongst other F-35 operators, or in war”, he said, referring to the transatlantic security alliance.
苏奥萨还表示，美国也不会透露该飞机真正的电子对抗能力，不过印度飞行员很可能对F-35的基本机动性能和空中表现有一个清晰的了解。
Nor would the US reveal the aircraft’s true electronic countermeasures capabilities, Suorsa said, though Indian pilots would likely get a good idea of the F-35s’ basic manoeuvres and aerial performance.
他表示，美国飞行员同样将有机会与印度使用的俄罗斯研发苏-30MKI战斗机进行对抗。这些战斗机与S-400地对空导弹系统一起，仍然是印度空军核心作战能力的支柱。
American pilots would likewise get to fly against India’s Russian-developed Su-30MKIs, which, alongside the S-400 surface-to-air missile system, continue to form the core of India’s air power capabilities, he said.
“Tarang Shakti 2026”演习是在美国关税争端、印度从俄罗斯进口石油的分歧，以及对地区安全问题的不同处理方式（包括美国与巴基斯坦的互动）背景下举行的。
Tarang Shakti 2026 is being held against the backdrop of disputes over US tariffs, disagreements over India’s Russian oil imports and differing approaches to regional security, including US engagement with Pakistan.
然而，帕蒂尔指出，武器销售似乎并未受到任何影响，并提到了印度于8月份采购了美国制造的FGM-148“标枪”反坦克制导导弹系统。
Yet arms sales appear to have continued uninterrupted, according to Patil, who pointed to India’s purchase of the US-made FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile system in August.
帕蒂尔说：“尽管某些分歧仍然存在，但两国在印太地区对威胁的认知正逐渐趋同。”
“While certain disagreements remain, both countries share converging threat perceptions in the Indo-Pacific,” Patil said.
这位前军官辛格表示，美印防务合作已经形成了“能够抵御政治动荡的战略逻辑”。
Singh, the former military officer, said US-India defence cooperation had acquired a “strategic logic resilient to political turbulence”.
他说道：“因此，F-35战机的参与是对抗外交波动的预防措施，而非分歧已经消失的证明。”
“F-35 participation is therefore a hedge against diplomatic volatility, and not evidence that disagreements have vanished,” he said.
美国在去年年底发布的最新《国家安全战略》中，将印度列为关键合作伙伴，并呼吁改善两国关系，“以鼓励新德里为印太地区的安全做出贡献”。
The US identified India as a critical partner in its latest National Security Strategy, released late last year, calling for improved relations “to encourage New Delhi to contribute to Indo-Pacific security”.
拉贾戈帕兰表示，在此背景下，“Tarang Shakti 2026”演习“展现了双方的实力与韧性”。
Against that backdrop, Exercise Tarang Shakti 2026 was “a show of strength and resilience”, Rajagopalan said.