NEW DELHI: India and the US will on Tuesday kick off Exercise Tiger Triumph, a bilateral tri-service humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise, off the country’s east coast, with the drills aimed at fostering interoperability between the two militaries for conducting such operations, the Indian Navy said on Monday.
The exercise will also enable the two sides to formulate standard operating procedures for establishing a combined coordination centre that will facilitate rapid and smooth coordination between the Indian and US joint task forces during exercises and contingencies, it said.
The drills will end on April 13.
The fourth edition of the Tiger Triumph comes at a time when the Indian military is involved in search and rescue in Myanmar following a devastating earthquake.
The Indian side will be represented by Indian Naval ships Jalashwa, Gharial, Mumbai and Shakti with integral helicopters and embarked landing craft, P8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft, soldiers from 91 Infantry Brigade and 12 Mechanised Infantry battalion, and the Indian Air Force’s C-130 special operations aircraft and MI-17 helicopters, along with a rapid action medical team (RAMT).
The US contingent will feature USS Comstock and USS Ralph Johnson, with embarked troops of the US Marine Division.
The harbour phase of the drills is scheduled to take place at Visakhapatnam from April 1 to 7, during which participants from both sides will engage in training visits, subject matter expert exchanges, sports events and social interactions, the navy said in a statement. “On completion of the harbour phase, the ships with embarked troops, would sail for the sea phase and undertake maritime, amphibious and HADR operations off Kakinada,” it said.
During the exercise, a joint command and control centre will be established by the Indian Army and US Marines at the Kakinada naval enclave, and the IAF’s RAMT and the US Navy medical team will set up a joint camp for providing medical aid. The exercise will culminate with a closing ceremony on board USS Comstock on April 13 at Visakhapatnam.
Also, the IAF is taking part in Exercise Iniochos-25, a multi-national air exercise hosted by the Hellenic Air Force. It began at the Andravida airbase in Greece on Monday and will end on April 11. The IAF contingent includes four Su-30 MKI fighters along with combat enablers such as IL-78 and C-17 aircraft. Around 100 IAF personnel are taking part in the biennial exercise.