Japan Deploys F-2 Fighters to India: Air Force Chief Flies Indian Tejas Fighter

The Chief of Staff of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), General Takehiro Morita, has flown aboard India’s domestically developed Tejas fighter during the ongoing two-week Veer Guardian 2026 bilateral air exercise. Morita flew in a twin-seat Tejas alongside Group Captain I. Samrat, while Indian Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh led the formation in a single-seat Tejas from Air Force Station Jodhpur. The flight provided Morita with an opportunity to experience the Indian fighter directly while also serving as a high-profile demonstration of the increasingly close operational relationship between the two air forces. 

Veer Guardian 2026 marks the first deployment of Japanese fighter aircraft to Indian territory for a bilateral exercise. The JASDF has deployed three F-2A fighters from the 8th Air Wing at Tsuiki Air Base in Fukuoka Prefecture, accompanied by approximately 110 personnel. The aircraft were ferried to India through Okinawa and Thailand, with U.S. Air Force support for the long-distance deployment including aerial refuelling. This follows the first Veer Guardian exercise which was held in Japan in January 2023, during which the Indian Air Force deployed four Su-30MKI fighters, two C-17 transport aircraft and an Il-78 aerial refuelling tanker to Japan.

Delays to the development of the Tejas have caused serious and worsening issues for Indian Air Force’s combat capabilities, resulting in both the missing of targets for the size of the fighter fleet by a considerable margin, and in major increases to the average age of currently serving fighter types. The fighter belatedly made its first flight only on January 4, 2001, after which it took a further 18 years before the aircraft were accepted into service in a limited capacity in February 2019. The fighter’s combat potential remains limited, while the first flight of the enhanced Tejas Mk2 variant was confirmed in March 2026 to have been further delayed by two years.