Vishakapatnam. In the biggest ever multinational interaction involving the Indian Navy in recent times, Exercise Malabar CY-07/2 was conducted in the Bay of Bengal from September 4 to 9.

Ships ranging from the size of a super carrier to frigates, aircraft and helicopters from 5 nations – India, the United States, Japan, Australia and Singapore – engaged in simulated war games and combat manoeuvres. There were 27 vessels, 8 from the Indian Navy, 14 from the US Navy, 2 each from the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and 1 from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

For six days continuously, day and night, intensive work-up and complex exercises were conducted round the clock in all the three dimensions, under water, surface and air, that included Dissimilar Aircraft Tactics DACT), cross-deck landings by aircraft and helicopters between various ships, strike and combat air patrols, by fighters operating from aircraft carriers, Air Defence exercises (ADEX), Combined Anti-submarine Exercises (CASEX) with the nuclear-propelled submarine, USS Chicago, gun firing, and opposed transit in the area of threat.

In addition to this, counter-mechanisms to other maritime threats that affect all countries such as marine terrorism, piracy at sea, human-arms-and-drug trafficking were also practiced.

Shore-based aircraft, namely Long Range Maritime Patrol (LRMP) TU-142M of the Indian Navy and P-3C Orions of the US Navy and JMSDF operating from Chennai also took part in the exercises.

For the first time ever, three aircraft carriers including the Indian INS Viraat were taking part in these exercises.

Indian Navy and Air Force pilots got an excellent opportunity to familiarize themselves with new systems and then fly in the top of the line US F 18 Super Hornets.

The exercise ended with a mock battle in all assets, irrespective of nationality, were divided into opposing groups with matching capabilities. They enacted virtual maritime threat scenarios and engaged with each other in mock but professional-level battles.

There was a “hot wash” on one of the ships, that is an on-the-spot debrief and assessment about the exercise which formally ended at 1400h on 9th Sep, after which the ships headed for their respective destinations.

The Indian representation in the Malabar exercise was headed by Rear Admiral Robin Dhowan, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF), who assumed tactical command (OTC) of units at sea for a number of exercise serials.

The US ships were formed in two groups, Task Force 70 consisting of aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk plus 7 other ships led by Rear Adm Richard B Wren and Carrier Strike Group 11 consisting of USS Nimitz plus 5 other ships led by Rear Adm Terry Blake.

Senior dignitaries from the navies and embassies of participating countries witnessed the exercise at different stages.

Among those present were Indian Navy’s Eastern Command Commander in Chief Vice Adm R P Suthan, USN 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm Doug Crowder, JMSDF Commander in Chief Vice Adm Yoji Koda and Commander of the Australian Fleet Rear Adm Nigel Coates.

Exercise Malabar, named so after the scenic south-west coast of India, lying on the narrow coastal plains of Karnataka and Kerala with westward facing mountain slopes, is the generic name given to the Indo-US naval interaction.

This exercise was generally held every year on the west coast of the India since its commencement in 1992, except for a brief interruption in the late 1990s due to the US reaction over India’s 1998 Pokharan II nuclear tests.

Earlier this year however, for the first time, exercise Malabar CY-07/1 was conducted away from the Indian shores in the Pacific, off the Japanese island of Okinawa with the Japanese.

The Indian Navy has been keen to exercise with various countries ranging from France, Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia and even China as part of a well thought out plan.

The 5-nation exercise in the Bay of Bengal was the 11th in the original Indo-US Malabar series, extended to involve other countries, and held closer to the strategically-placed Indian islands of Andaman and Nicobar.

Notably over the years, these interactions have steadily increased in scope and complexity with the growth of mutual confidence and inter-operability.

In 2005, the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz operated along with the INS Viraat.

This time, Nimitz, Kitty Hawk and Viraat operated seamlessly along with other ships and some 200 aircraft and helicopters from the participating countries in the mock combat.

Needless to say that this speaks volumes about the adaptability and flexibility of the Indian Navy, which though technologically less advanced compared to the western navies, rose to the occasion and matched their skills with the very best in the world.

From the Indian Navy’s point of view, this exercise provided a unique opportunity to its personnel to operate technologically sophisticated platforms and equipment. That should help us assess our strengths and weaknesses, towards fine-tuning our maritime operations and long-term perspective of capabilities.

Those who witnessed the flying operations on board USS Kitty Hawk, and also saw the Viraat in action, would tend to agree – even if reluctantly – that we have a lot of ground to cover before we get inducted in the big league.

With India emerging as a rising economic power, and the Indian Navy’s area of maritime responsibility stretching from the Horn of Africa and Gulf in the Arabian Sea in the west to the Malacca Straits and beyond in the east, the Indian Navy needs to gear up to meet the rising expectations at a fast pace.

One has also to keep in mind the added responsibility of lending a helping hand to smaller littoral states in the Indian Ocean region, as we did during the 2004 Tsunami.

We do have a long way to go and exercises such as these would help us in forward transformation at an accelerated pace.

Besides the US, the Indian Navy is conducting exercises with a number of regional and extra-regional navies: Varuna series with the French, Konkan with the British, Indra with the Russians, and Simbex with Singaporeans.

Additionally, exercises of opportunity have been conducted with other countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Kuwait in the west, and Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand in the east.

Even as Exercise Malabar CY-07/2 was going on in the Bay of Bengal, ships of the Western fleet, under the tactical command of Rear Adm Shekhar Sinha, were on an overseas deployment in West Asia, exercising with the navies of Oman, Kuwait and Qatar.

From there, they were to move toward Djibouti for the Indo-French Varuna.

These engagements and exercises enable the Indian Navy to gain and share operational and doctrinal expertise, transformational experiences, promote interoperability, and help enhance maritime domain awareness.

These elements are an intrinsic part of the ongoing effort at “constructive engagement” within the maritime field, being undertaken by the Indian Navy in concert with other instruments and mechanisms of the nation’s diplomacy.

In the run-up to the Malabar Exercise, Rear Adm Pradeep Chauhan, in-charge of Foreign Cooperation at the Ministry of Defence, pointed out that the Malabar series as well as other exercises were not aimed against anybody but were part of a comprehensive “India-centric” effort to enhance the perspective of the Indian naval officers and men by giving them exposure to other navies and their capabilities.

The exposure helped in learning the best possible practices by giving the Indian personnel an opportunity to interact with others and test their skills against some of the most technologically advanced platforms and weapons in all the three dimensions.

Pointing out that any exercise is planned nearly one year in advance, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta has underlined the benefits of interaction with other navies.

“Where else would our personnel get to match their skills and operate in an environment such as this (with 3 carriers and 200 aircraft)?”