Exercise Garuda

Exercise Garuda
Exercise Garuda
Status	Active
Genre	Military exercise
Frequency	Variable
Country	India, France
Years active	21
Established	2003
Previous event	2022 (26 October – 12 November)
Participants	Indian Air Force & French Air and Space Force

Exercise Garuda is a bilateral air force exercise between the Indian Air Force and the French Air and Space Force. The first edition of the exercise was held in 2003 at Gwalior AFS. The debut exercise was witnessed by Chief of Staff of the FASF. As of 2024, seven editions of the exercise were held alternatively in India and France air space.^[1]

List of Garuda exercises
Edition	Year	Location	Dates	IAF units	FASF units	Notes	Reference
Garuda I	2003	Gwalior AFS, India					^[2]
Garuda II	2005	Istres Air Base, France					^[1]
Garuda III	2007	Kalaikunda AFS, India	13 - 25 February	Sukhoi Su-30 MKI Dassault Mirage 2000 Mikoyan MiG-27	Mirage 2000-5 M-2000D E-3F		^[3]
Garuda IV	2010	Istres Air Base, France	14 - 25 June	6 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI 3 Ilyushin IL-78 MKI 1 Ilyushin Il-76	Mirage 2000 Aerial refueling aircraft	Singapore Air Force participated in the exercise with F-16 Fighting Falcon.	^[4]
Garuda V	2014	Jodhpur AFS, India	2 - 13 June	4 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI 4 Mikoyan MiG-27 4 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 1 Ilyushin IL-78 MKI 1 Beriev A-50	4 Dassault Rafale 1 Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker		^[5]^[6]^[1]
Garuda VI	2019	Mont-de-Marsan, France	1 - 12 July	Sukhoi Su-30 MKI Dassault Rafale Ilyushin IL-78 C-17 Globemaster	Sukhoi Su-30 MKI Dassault Rafale Ilyushin IL-78 C-17 Globemaster		^[7]
Garuda VII	2022	Jodhpur AFS, India	26 October to 12 November	Sukhoi Su-30 MKI Dassault Rafale HAL Tejas SEPECAT Jaguar HAL Prachand Mil Mi-17 1 Ilyushin IL-78 MKI other unspecified AEW&C	4 Dassault Rafale 1 Airbus A330 MRTT		^[8]^[2]

Gallery

IAF Su-30 MKI, French Rafale and IAF Tejas at Exercise Garuda
An Indo-French formation (including IAF Su-30 MKI, French Rafale, IAF Tejas) led by Su-30MKI over Thar Desert during Garuda VII 2022.
An Indo-French formation (including IAF Su-30 MKI, French Rafale, IAF Tejas) led by Rafale over Thar Desert during Garuda VII 2022.

^ ^a ^b ^c "Exercise Garuda V – Strengthening strategic partnership". www.spsmai.com. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
^ ^a ^b "Garuda VII". Drishti IAS. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
^ "Indo-French joint air exercise Garuda-III begins". Press Information Bureau. 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
^ "Exercise 'GARUDA' begins". Press Information Bureau. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
^ "Indo-French Air Exercise "Garuda V"". La France en Inde / France in India. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
^ "Air Exercise Between Indian Air Force and French Air Force (Exercise Garuda V) Commences at Jodhpur". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 2017-11-01.^{[dead link‍]}
^ "Culmination of Exercise Garuda-VI". Press Information Bureau. 2019-07-19. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
^ "EXERCISE GARUDA - VII AT AIR FORCE STATION JODHPUR". Press Information Bureau. 2022-10-28. Retrieved 2024-08-03.