UK’s F-35Bs Team with Indian Su-30MKIs and Jaguars to Enhance Interoperability in Indian Ocean
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Royal British Navy F-35B Lightning IIs from HMS Prince of Wales flew a coordinated mission on October 14 with Indian Air Force Su-30MKI and Jaguar aircraft, backed by IAF AWACS and AEW&C over the Indian Ocean. The flight signals tighter UK-India air and maritime integration, with shared tactics and data links improving coalition readiness in contested sea lanes.
On 14 October 2025, Royal British Navy F-35B Lightning IIs from HMS Prince of Wales flew with Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30MKI and Jaguar strike aircraft, supported by IAF AWACS and AEW&C platforms, during a coordinated mission over the Indian Ocean Region. The flight demonstrates rare integration between a fifth-generation STOVL stealth jet and a mixed fleet of fourth-generation air-dominance and deep-strike assets, underscoring an expanding UK-India air–maritime partnership. This matters because seamless air pictures, common tactics and compatible data flows are the currency of modern coalition operations in contested sea lanes, as reported by the Indian Air Force on X.
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That is the real effect of an F-35B sharing the same air picture with Indian Su-30MKIs and Jaguars under AWACS and AEW&C control, an operational grammar that turns presence into credible, rapidly employable combat power. (Picture source: Indian Air Force)
The air package itself is notable. The F-35B brings low-observable penetration, fused sensors and secure multiband datalinks from a carrier deck, while the Su-30MKI adds long-range air superiority and multirole reach with high off-boresight weapons and robust endurance. Jaguar strike aircraft contribute low-level maritime strike and interdiction profiles refined over decades, and the IAF’s airborne early warning cadre, combining large-aperture AWACS coverage with nimble AEW&C orbits, extends detection ranges, deconfliction and battle management. Training these disparate generations together compresses the kill chain: AEW sensors build the composite air picture, command nodes allocate intercepts, fourth-gens mass weapons at standoff, and fifth-gens silently close for targeting quality updates, all while carrier aviation sustains presence without reliance on shore bases.
Context amplifies the significance. The flight occurred alongside the UK-India carrier activities under Exercise Konkan 2025, where both nations for the first time fielded full carrier strike groups in company, India around INS Vikrant and the UK around HMS Prince of Wales, conducting high-end air and maritime drills in the western Indian Ocean. Carrier-borne F-35Bs working directly with land-based IAF fighters and airborne C2 assets indicates a maturing concept of operations that bridges sea-based and shore-based air power, a prerequisite for combined air defence, anti-surface warfare and long-range maritime strike in the Indo-Pacific.
Operationally, each platform’s development arc explains the complementarity. The F-35B’s mission-system fusion and distributed aperture sensors are optimised for contested ISR and strike from short decks; the Su-30MKI, a heavy twin-engine multirole derivative, excels at endurance and payload for air dominance and maritime strike; the Anglo-French-designed Jaguar, though older, remains a stable deep-strike workhorse with proven low-level profiles; and the IAF’s mix of large AWACS and indigenous AEW&C adds layered command-and-control with dissimilar sensor geometries. Compared with typical bilateral fighter-only drills, the addition of both AWACS and AEW&C plus a fifth-gen carrier element elevates the training from air combat sorties to a rehearsal of network-centric, multi-domain air–maritime operations.
Strategically, the message is calibrated for multiple audiences. Regionally, the sortie signals that New Delhi and London can mesh carrier air wings, land-based fighters and airborne C2 to protect critical sea lines from the Gulf of Aden through the Arabian Sea to the Malacca approaches, complicating planning for any actor contemplating coercive air–maritime manoeuvres. It also advertises an ability to generate a shared recognised air and maritime picture at speed, a key deterrent in grey-zone air incursions, long-range missile probes or swarm-drone harassment of shipping. Politically, it aligns with the UK’s persistent Indo-Pacific presence and India’s preference for diversified security partnerships, building habits of cooperation without formal alliance commitments. In capability terms, it validates data-link discipline, EMCON procedures and cross-queueing between fifth-gen sensors and fourth-gen weapons, precisely the interoperability dividends that coalition planners seek.
The Indian Air Force framed the event in those terms, highlighting interoperability, mutual trust and a collective commitment to regional stability, and multiple outlets echoed the timing and composition of the package over the Indian Ocean Region on 14 October. The combination of platforms, and the fact that the F-35B flew in concert with Su-30MKIs, Jaguars and dual-layer airborne early warning, marks a substantive step from symbolic fly-pasts to integrated tactics and command-and-control at scale.
Beyond the day’s sortie, the take-away is clear: coalition air power in the Indian Ocean is moving toward fused sensing, distributed basing and carrier-to-shore integration, and India and the UK are training to make that a routine option rather than an exception. That is the real effect of an F-35B sharing the same air picture with Indian Su-30MKIs and Jaguars under AWACS and AEW&C control, an operational grammar that turns presence into credible, rapidly employable combat power.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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Royal British Navy F-35B Lightning IIs from HMS Prince of Wales flew a coordinated mission on October 14 with Indian Air Force Su-30MKI and Jaguar aircraft, backed by IAF AWACS and AEW&C over the Indian Ocean. The flight signals tighter UK-India air and maritime integration, with shared tactics and data links improving coalition readiness in contested sea lanes.
On 14 October 2025, Royal British Navy F-35B Lightning IIs from HMS Prince of Wales flew with Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30MKI and Jaguar strike aircraft, supported by IAF AWACS and AEW&C platforms, during a coordinated mission over the Indian Ocean Region. The flight demonstrates rare integration between a fifth-generation STOVL stealth jet and a mixed fleet of fourth-generation air-dominance and deep-strike assets, underscoring an expanding UK-India air–maritime partnership. This matters because seamless air pictures, common tactics and compatible data flows are the currency of modern coalition operations in contested sea lanes, as reported by the Indian Air Force on X.
That is the real effect of an F-35B sharing the same air picture with Indian Su-30MKIs and Jaguars under AWACS and AEW&C control, an operational grammar that turns presence into credible, rapidly employable combat power. (Picture source: Indian Air Force)
The air package itself is notable. The F-35B brings low-observable penetration, fused sensors and secure multiband datalinks from a carrier deck, while the Su-30MKI adds long-range air superiority and multirole reach with high off-boresight weapons and robust endurance. Jaguar strike aircraft contribute low-level maritime strike and interdiction profiles refined over decades, and the IAF’s airborne early warning cadre, combining large-aperture AWACS coverage with nimble AEW&C orbits, extends detection ranges, deconfliction and battle management. Training these disparate generations together compresses the kill chain: AEW sensors build the composite air picture, command nodes allocate intercepts, fourth-gens mass weapons at standoff, and fifth-gens silently close for targeting quality updates, all while carrier aviation sustains presence without reliance on shore bases.
Context amplifies the significance. The flight occurred alongside the UK-India carrier activities under Exercise Konkan 2025, where both nations for the first time fielded full carrier strike groups in company, India around INS Vikrant and the UK around HMS Prince of Wales, conducting high-end air and maritime drills in the western Indian Ocean. Carrier-borne F-35Bs working directly with land-based IAF fighters and airborne C2 assets indicates a maturing concept of operations that bridges sea-based and shore-based air power, a prerequisite for combined air defence, anti-surface warfare and long-range maritime strike in the Indo-Pacific.
Operationally, each platform’s development arc explains the complementarity. The F-35B’s mission-system fusion and distributed aperture sensors are optimised for contested ISR and strike from short decks; the Su-30MKI, a heavy twin-engine multirole derivative, excels at endurance and payload for air dominance and maritime strike; the Anglo-French-designed Jaguar, though older, remains a stable deep-strike workhorse with proven low-level profiles; and the IAF’s mix of large AWACS and indigenous AEW&C adds layered command-and-control with dissimilar sensor geometries. Compared with typical bilateral fighter-only drills, the addition of both AWACS and AEW&C plus a fifth-gen carrier element elevates the training from air combat sorties to a rehearsal of network-centric, multi-domain air–maritime operations.
Strategically, the message is calibrated for multiple audiences. Regionally, the sortie signals that New Delhi and London can mesh carrier air wings, land-based fighters and airborne C2 to protect critical sea lines from the Gulf of Aden through the Arabian Sea to the Malacca approaches, complicating planning for any actor contemplating coercive air–maritime manoeuvres. It also advertises an ability to generate a shared recognised air and maritime picture at speed, a key deterrent in grey-zone air incursions, long-range missile probes or swarm-drone harassment of shipping. Politically, it aligns with the UK’s persistent Indo-Pacific presence and India’s preference for diversified security partnerships, building habits of cooperation without formal alliance commitments. In capability terms, it validates data-link discipline, EMCON procedures and cross-queueing between fifth-gen sensors and fourth-gen weapons, precisely the interoperability dividends that coalition planners seek.
The Indian Air Force framed the event in those terms, highlighting interoperability, mutual trust and a collective commitment to regional stability, and multiple outlets echoed the timing and composition of the package over the Indian Ocean Region on 14 October. The combination of platforms, and the fact that the F-35B flew in concert with Su-30MKIs, Jaguars and dual-layer airborne early warning, marks a substantive step from symbolic fly-pasts to integrated tactics and command-and-control at scale.
Beyond the day’s sortie, the take-away is clear: coalition air power in the Indian Ocean is moving toward fused sensing, distributed basing and carrier-to-shore integration, and India and the UK are training to make that a routine option rather than an exception. That is the real effect of an F-35B sharing the same air picture with Indian Su-30MKIs and Jaguars under AWACS and AEW&C control, an operational grammar that turns presence into credible, rapidly employable combat power.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
