F-35s in Indian airspace say more about the alliance than the drill
The surface story is a scheduled multinational air exercise. The real story is that the US is flying F-35 stealth fighters into Indian-hosted drills for the first time, a step that reflects deliberate alliance signaling at a moment when India's relationships with both Washington and Moscow remain in active tension. Two outlets have it, both defense-specialist publications, and neither digs into what India had to agree to for this to happen.
US F-35 fighters to debut in Indian multinational air exercise
2 sources · hover a dot to see coverage
What happened
The United States will fly F-35 stealth fighters in a multinational air exercise hosted by India, marking the first time the aircraft has participated in Indian-hosted drills. Military Times reported the development on September 25, 2026, framing it as evidence that US-India defense ties "remain steady." The exercise is multinational, meaning other partner nations are also participating, though the specific roster of countries was not detailed in available coverage. The F-35's inclusion is notable because India still operates Russian-origin equipment, including Su-30MKI fighters, making interoperability and intelligence-sharing protocols a live diplomatic consideration whenever US fifth-generation aircraft enter the picture. That is the wire version. Two outlets have it, both defense-specialist publications, and the coverage is thin enough that the framing gaps are larger than the reporting.
Defense press leads with the alliance signal, skips the friction
Both Military Times and Defense News treated the F-35 debut as a straightforward positive indicator of US-India relations. Military Times's framing was explicit: the participation "signals that New Delhi's and Washington's defense ties remain steady." That is a conclusion, not a reported fact, and neither outlet examined what steadiness looks like when India is simultaneously negotiating S-400 air defense system deliveries from Russia, a purchase that has kept CAATSA sanctions risk on the table in Washington for years. The exercise gets covered as a milestone. The diplomatic scaffolding holding it together goes unexamined.
What one side told you that the other didn't
Nobody asked what India had to agree to.
Flying F-35s into a joint exercise with a country that operates Russian-built fighters raises real questions about information security protocols, sensor data sharing, and what restrictions the US placed on the aircraft's operational parameters during the drill. Neither outlet reported on those conditions. The F-35 is not just a fighter jet; it is a networked intelligence platform, and the terms under which it participates in multinational exercises with non-Five Eyes partners are not boilerplate. The most operationally significant part of this story is the part neither outlet reported.
The CAATSA tension is absent from both pieces.
India's purchase of Russia's S-400 system has kept the threat of US Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act penalties alive since 2018. The Biden administration waived the sanctions; the current posture is unresolved. Introducing F-35s into a joint Indian exercise without mentioning that backdrop treats the alliance as simpler than it is. Military Times called the ties "steady." Steady is one word for an alliance where one partner is buying air defense systems from the other partner's primary adversary.
What to watch
If the exercise proceeds as scheduled and the F-35s fly, watch whether Indian or US defense officials make any public statement about data-sharing or operational restrictions during the drill. A statement would confirm the protocols exist and were negotiated. Silence would be the more informative outcome. Either way, the next Indian defense procurement announcement involving Russian equipment will test whether "steady" was the right word.
See how outlets across the political spectrum framed this differently — and what each side left out.