Indian Navy’s largest exercise TROPEX-21 continues in Indian Ocean

The largest war game of the Indian Navy- Theatre level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX-21)- which started in early January 2021, is currently underway in the Indian Ocean.

The exercise is seeing the participation of all operational units of the Indian Navy including submarines, aircraft, ships as well as the units of the Indian Army, Coast Guard, and Indian Air Force.

TROPEX-21 is being conducted over a vast geographical expanse in the Indian Ocean Region including its adjunct waters. According to the press release by the Indian navy, the exercise will culminate by the third week of February 2021.

The conduct of the Indian Navy’s largest exercise is being overseen by the Naval Headquarters with the participation from all three commands of the Navy and the tri-services command at Port Blair.

#IndianNavy’s largest war game - Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise #TROPEX21. Commenced early Jan 21, participation of all ops units - warships, submarines, aircraft & units of #IndianArmy #IndianAirForce & #CoastGuard (1/2).https://t.co/yGB44WrkY7 pic.twitter.com/YLkXXMh4Wf

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) February 10, 2021

Objective:

TROPEX-21 aims at testing the combat readiness of the Indian Navy in a complex multi-dimensional scenario set in the context of the current geo-strategic environment.

The Theatre level exercise also aims at validating the Indian Navy’s offensive-defence capabilities, safeguarding national interest in the maritime domain, and promote peace and stability in the Indian Ocean Region.

Progress of TROPEX-21 over distinct phases:

TROPEX by the Indian Navy is being progressed over distinct phases testing the Navy’s transition from peacetime to hostilities.

Exercise ‘Sea Vigil’:

In the first phase, the Indian Navy conducted coastal defence exercise ‘Sea Vigil’ along with the island territories and the entire coastline of India on January 12-13, 2021. Sea vigil exercise aimed at validating the coastal defence set up of the country, which was completely revamped after the 26/11 terror attacks of Mumbai.

It witnessed large-scale participation from Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Marine Police of 13 coastal states and the Union territories along with other stakeholders in the maritime domain.

Valuable lessons that emerged from the naval exercise have been incorporated into the existing procedures to further strengthen the coastal defence architecture of the country.

Exercise ‘AMPHEX-21’:

Sea Vigil was then followed by a large-scale tri-service joint amphibious exercise AMPHEX-21. It was conducted in Andaman and Nicobar Islands from January 21 to 25, 2021.

The exercise was aimed at validating the capabilities of India to safeguard the territorial integrity of its island territories as well as enhance the operational synergy and joint warfighting capabilities among the three services.