IBSAMAR – VI : India, Brazil and South Africa

The 14-day 6th edition of IBSAMAR, a joint multi-national military exercise between the Indian, Brazilian and South African navies was held at Simon’s Town, South Africa from 1st October 2018. The aim of this maritime exercise is to undertake collective training for participating navies, building interoperability and mutual understanding as well as sharing of best practices.

In depth : Exercise IBSAMAR was initiated in 2006 and is considered as the most visible manifestation (an action or fact of showing something) of convergence of democratic values, economic interests and maritime cooperation. The last edition of IBSAMAR – V was conducted in Goa, India in February 2016 and all previous exercises were held in South Africa.

For this year, IBSAMAR 2018 exercise Indian Navy was represented by Guided Missile Destroyer INS Kolkata, Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft P8I, Guided Missile Frigate INS Tarkash, Seaking and Chetak Helicopters as well as MARCOS contingent. This edition of exercise included both harbor and see faces various navigation and seamanship evolution, force protection exercises, surface weapons firing, anti piracy exercise, anti-air and anti submarine with flying operations were also conducted.

Alongside this exercise, a IBSA Joint Defence Working Group meeting was also be held in South Africa. The forum provided three countries with platform to engage in discussions for cooperation in the field of agriculture, trade and defence. It also plays an important role in the foreign policies of India, Brazil and South Africa. It aims at providing greater understanding between three important continents of developing world from Africa, Asia and South America.

Sahyog-Hop Tac 2018 : India and Vietnam

The first ever joint exercise of the Coast Guards of India and Vietnam “Sahyog-Hop Tac 2018” was held in the Bay of Bengal off the Chennai coast, Tamil Nadu. The aim of the exercise is to   strengthen the working level relationship between coast guards of both the navies.

In depth : In this bilateral exercise, Vietnam Coast Guard Ship named as CBS  8001 took part for the first time. A vessel ‘Sagar Manjusha’ owned by the National Institute of Ocean Technology and also vessels from Indian Coast Guard took part in it. This exercise enhances the cooperation between two Coast Guards in areas of maritime safety and security. Also a must known fact is that it’s part of an MoU for cooperation that was signed between India and Vietnam countries in 2015.

Flight Trial of ASTRA Missile

Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully undertook the series of flight trials of Astra Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVR – AAM) from 26th September 2018 to 3rd October 2018. The trials were conducted at Integrated Test Range (ITR) Balasore, Odisha as part of final development tests of the missile.

Astra Missile : Astra is air-to-air beyond visual range missile indigenously developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). More than 50 public and private sector industries are involved in development and production of different sub-systems of the missile. It’s length is 3.8 metres and weight is 154 kg making it the smallest weapon system developed by DRDO.

JIMEX 18 : India and Japan

The 3rd edition of Japan India Maritime Exercise (JIMEX) was held from 7th October 2018 to 15th October 2018 at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The aim of JIMEX 18 exercise is to enhance interoperability, improve understanding and gain best practices between Navies of two countries.

In depth : The exercise JIMEX 18 consists of
(i) A Harbour Phase which include social and professional interactions between ship’s screw, operational planning for sea phase and sport fixtures.
(ii) A Sea Phase which include anti submarine Warfare exercises, gun firing, VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) drills, cross deck hello operations and coordinated operations in anti-submarine/anti-air threat scenarios.

In this exercise the Indian side was represented by INS Satpura, INS Shakti, INS Kadmatt, P81 long range Maritime Patrol aircraft and one submarine under the command of  Rear Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, flag officer commanding, Eastern fleet whereas the Japanese site was represented by Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) Ships Kaga, an Izuma class helicopter destroyer and Inazuma under the command of Rear Admiral Tatsuya Fakuda, commander of Escort Flotilla-4 (CCF-4).

The last edition of JIMEX was conducted in Chennai on 3rd December 2013. India and Japan Maritime exercise JIMEX was started in January 2012 with special focus on Maritime Security Cooperation and the first exercise was conducted off Japanese coast.

JIMEX ships also participated in the MALABAR-18 exercise in the Pacific Ocean between Indian Navy and US Navy and also in the biennial RIMPAC-18 exercise held in Hawaii USA.

CORPAT : India and Indonesia

The 32nd India and Indonesia coordinated patrol (CORPAT) exercise was held in Belawan, Indonesia from 11th October 2018 to 27th October 2018.  Under this 16 day exercise, ships and aircraft from both the countries undertook the patrolling on their respective sides of 236 nautical miles long International Maritime Boundary Line.

In depth : The exercise was conducted in three phases – from 14 to 24 October 2018 followed by a closing ceremony at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Island, scheduled from 25 to 26 October 2018. It is a part of honourable Prime Minister’s vision of SAGAR which stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region.

The Indian side is represented by Indian Naval Ship Kulish, a Kora class missile Corvette, commented by Commander Deepak Bali and Indian Dornier (Naval Maritime Time Patrol aircraft) from Andaman and Nicobar Island.

The navies of India and Indonesia under this strategic partnership have been carrying out coordinated patrolling since 2002 once in two years near international Maritime border line in an effort to keep Indian Ocean Region (IOR) safe and secure for commercial shipping and international trade.

Clear Sky 2018 : Ukraine with NATO Countries

On 9th October 2018, Ukraine along with United States launched large scale air exercise with NATO countries known as Clear Sky 2018 in western Ukraine. The objective of this 10 day exercise is to secure air sovereignty and promote peace and security.

Around 700 troops participated with NATO countries such as the United States, Poland, Britain, Netherland and Romania. US was represented by F-15C Eagle fighter planes and C-130J Super Hercules.

First India US tri-services exercise in 2019

As announced on 15th October 2018, the first India and United States tri-service exercise is likely to take place in 2019 in India. The exercise will include call services of both the countries and talks are also to include special forces. US will be the second country after Russia with whom India will conduct tri-services exercise.

An Initial planning conference (IPC) will be held to discuss the scale of the exercise. This is the first such exercise which involves all the three forces in India. The aim is to focus on United Nations based scenario and the overarching mission of humanitarian assistance, disaster relief measure. The Indo-US joint tri services was formally announced after the first 2 + 2 dialogue between principles of external affairs and defence ministers of two countries which was held in New Delhi on September 2018.

Key Facts : The three forces of India and the United States has already taken part in multiple bilateral exercises separately. Moreover, Armies of both the countries have participated in annual drill called Yudh Abyaas, whose latest edition took place in September 2018 and air forces took part in bilateral drill known as Cope India. Navies of both the countries have also participated in Malabar exercise involving Japan.

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