NEW DELHI: The Indian and French navies will on Wednesday kick off the joint naval exercise, Varuna, in the Arabian Sea, with the drills featuring several platforms from both sides including aircraft carriers, the Indian Navy said on Tuesday.
“The joint participation of the aircraft carriers Vikrant and Charles de Gaulle, alongside their fighter aircraft, destroyers, frigates, and an Indian Scorpene-class submarine, highlights the collaborative strength of both navies,” a naval statement said on the eve of the exercise.
This will be the 23rd edition of the bilateral exercise that has grown in complexity and scope over the years. It was first held in 2001 and reflects the growing maritime partnership between the two countries.
Since its inception, Varuna has evolved into a cornerstone of cooperation, showcasing the shared commitment of the two countries to enhancing naval interoperability and operational synergy, the navy said.
This year’s edition will feature an array of maritime exercises and complex manoeuvres across the sub-surface, surface, and air domains.
“Varuna-2025 will feature advanced air defence drills and fighter exercises, including mock air-to-air combat between the French Rafale-M and Indian MiG-29K, designed to refine tactical and operational capabilities. Anti-submarine warfare exercises will provide rigorous training in underwater domain awareness, while surface warfare operations will demonstrate synchronised manoeuvres and engagements by the Indian and French fleets,” the statement added.
Also, maritime patrol aircraft taking part in the drills will enhance situational awareness, and replenishment-at-sea exercises will strengthen logistics cooperation.
By fostering the exchange of best practices and mutual understanding, the exercise will reaffirm the ability of the two nations to operate seamlessly in even the most complex maritime scenarios, it added.
India and France have taken a raft of measures to deepen military cooperation. Last year, the two countries agreed to a new roadmap for defence industrial cooperation to identify opportunities for partnership in the sector including co-designing, co-development and co-production of military hardware.
Also, India is all set to sign two separate deals with France for 26 new Rafale-M fighter jets for aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, and three more Scorpene-class submarines to sharpen the navy’s combat capabilities.
The deal for the Rafale-M twin-engine deck-based fighters is estimated to be worth around ₹50,000 crore. The additional Scorpene-class submarines, to be built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, will strengthen the country’s maritime posture in the Indian Ocean Region where the challenges include China’s carefully calculated power play for influence and defending the rules-based international order.
MDL has already built six Kalvari-class (Scorpene) diesel-electric attack submarines with technology transfer from the French firm, Naval Group, under a ₹23,562-crore programme called Project 75.