Maritime Exercise Malabar Phase II
The Indian Navy is set to take part in “Second Phase of multilateral maritime exercise” called “Exercise Malabar” along with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and the United States Navy (USN).
Key Facts
- Malabar exercise is being conducted in the Bay of Bengal from 12 October to 15 October 2021.
- This is the Second Phase of the Malabar exercise. It will build synergic coordination between the participating nations and also enhance the interoperability that was developed during the ‘First Phase of the exercise’.
- First phase of this exercise was conducted from August 26-29, 2021 in Philippines sea.
- Exercise will also focus on advanced surface & anti-submarine warfare exercises, weapon firings and seamanship evolutions.
Naval ships in action
In the maritime exercise, INS Ranvijay, INS Satpura as well as P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft from Indian Navy will participate.
About second phase of Malabar exercise
Second phase of the exercise will be bigger than the first phase that was conducted off the Guam coast, US in the Western Pacific. In this phase, United States deployed more than 100000-ton Nimitz-class super aircraft carrier.
US in second phase
US will be represented by USS Lake Champlain, two destroyers, and USS Stockdale. It will also deploy Aircraft Carrier USS Carl Vinson.
Japan in second phase
Japanese Navy will be represented by JS Kaga and guided-missile destroyer Murasame besides their integral SH60K helicopters.
Australia in second phase
Royal Australian Navy will deploy HMAS Ballarat and HMAS Sirius.
About Malabar exercise
Malabar exercise started as an annual bilateral naval exercise in the year 1992 between India and the US. It comprises of a series of exercises, increasing scope and complexity over time.
Month: Current Affairs - October, 2021