Introduction of Military Exercises
In military exercises, participating countries performing drills of different military operations, testing the quickness and real time warfare of capabilities and adopting strategies without undergoing actual combat.
Military exercises are classified in the following types:
- Domestic Exercise
- Bilateral Exercise
- Multilateral Exercise
Domestic exercise
This exercise aims to improve internal engagements and there can be inter-services or intra-services depending on nature and its application.
List of military domestic exercises
- Gandiv Vijay
- Paschim Lehar
- Vayu Shakti
- Vijay Prahar
Bilateral Exercises:
Bilateral Exercise conducted by Indian Army:
| Partner Nation | Exercise Name |
| China | Hand in Hand |
| Nepal | Surya Kiran |
| Bangladesh | Sampriti |
| Sri Lanka | Mitra Shakti |
| Myanmar | IMBAX |
| Maldives | Ekuverian |
| USA | Yudh Abhyas |
| USA | Vajra Prahar |
| Indonesia | Garuda Shakti |
| Thailand | Maitree |
| Malaysia | Harimau Shakti |
| Vietnam | VINBAX |
| Russia | Indra |
| Mongolia | Nomadic Elephant, Khan Quest |
| Singapore | Bold Kurukshetra |
| Singapore | Agni Warrior |
| Seychelles | LAMITIYE |
| Kazakhastan | PRABAL DOSTYK |
| Oman | AL NAGAH |
| UK | AJEYA WARRIOR |
| France | Shakti |
| Australia | Austra Hind |
| Kyrgyzstan | Khanjar |
| Japan | Dharma Guardian |
Bilateral Exercise Conducted by Indian Navy:
| Partner Nation | Exercise Name |
| Australia | Ausindex |
| Sri Lanka | SLINEX |
| Indonesia | CORPAT |
| Thailand | Indo-Thai CORPAT |
| Russia | INDRA NAVY |
| France | Varuna |
| Myanmar | IMCOR |
| Oman | Nassem-al-Bahr |
| Singapore | SIMBEX |
| UK | KONKAN |
| USA | MALABAR, started in 1992 as bilateral then japan included in it as permanent member in 2015 |
| Vietnam | Sahyog HOP TAC |
Bilateral exercise conducted by Indian Air Force
| Partner Nation | Exercise Name |
| France | GARUDA |
| Oman | Eastern Bridge |
| Russia | AVIANDRA |
| Singapore | Joint Training Exercise |
| Thailand | SIAM BHARAT |
| UAE | DESERT EAGLE |
| UK | INDRADHANUSH |
| USA | RED FLAG |
Exercise Conducted in 2021
| Konkan Shakti | United Kingdom (UK) and India | First tri-service exercise between India and United Kingdom conducted in Arabian Sea. |
| Ajeya Warrior | United Kingdom (UK) and India | Army exercise conducted in Uttarakhand |
| Yudh Abhyas | India and the United States | Military exercise in Alaska |
| Malabar | Navies of India, Japan, USA and Australia | Second phase conducted in the Bay of Bengal while First phase of this exercise was conducted in Philippines sea. |
| Mitra Shakti 21 | India- Sri Lanka | Conducted at Combat Training School, Ampara in Sri Lanka |
| AUSINDEX | India-Australia | 4th edition of biennial maritime series |
| Exercise PEACEFUL MISSION -2021 | Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states | 6th edition of the Exercise Peaceful Mission is being hosted by Russia |
| KAZIND-21 | Indo-Kazakhstan | 5th edition of Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Training Exercise called KAZIND-21 |
| Exercise Konkan 2021 | India – UK | between the navies of India and United Kingdom |
| AL-MOHED AL-HINDI 2021 | India & Saudi Arabia | Naval Exercise |
| INDRA NAVY | India and Russia | 12th edition of the military exercise INDRA NAVY was held in the Baltic Sea. |
| INDRA-2021 | India and Russia | 12th edition of joint military exercise in Russia’s Volgograd. |
| Passage | India and USA | Naval Exercise |
| CORPAT | India – Thailand | Coordinated Patrols or CORPAT, with the aim of reinforcing maritime links between two countries and to keep Indian Ocean safe and secure for international trade. |
| Varuna 2021 | India-France | Naval Exercise |
| Khanjar | India-Kyrgyztan | The Military exercise was held at Bishkek. |
| ‘DUSTLIK II’ | Indo-Uzbekistan | Field Training Exercise held at Ranikhet in Uttarakhand. |
| PASSEX | India- Indonesia | The Indian and the Indonesian navies held the PASSEX military exercise in the Arabian sea. |
| Ex-Desert Knight 21 | India-France | Military exercise |
Other Important Exercises conducted in 2021 :
- The second edition of coastal Defence Exercise Sea Vigil-21 is to be conducted between January 12 and January 13, 2021.
- Exercise TROPEX-21 : The biennial Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX 21) which is the largest wargame of the Indian Navy was conducted in January-February 2021.
- The Sea Vigil is a build-up towards the major theatre level exercise TROPEX that the Indian Navy conducts every two years. Both Sea Vigil and TROPEX will together cover the entire spectrum of maritime security challenges.
- The Indian Army is to conduct a large scale joint military exercise Kavach in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. The exercise is to be held under the aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command. The Joint Military Exercise Kavach will involve Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Coast Guard.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate in the multinational exercise called “Desert Flag” in the United Arab Emirates. The Air Force of India will take part in the exercise along with the forces of the France and United States.
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation recently launched the joint military exercises in Albania called the “DEFENDER-Europe 21”. The exercise is an annual US-led multinational exercise.
- Black Sea drills : Ukraine and United States conducted a military exercise, joined by 30 countries, in Black Sea and southern Ukraine.
- Indian Naval Ship (INS) Tabar recently participated in military exercises with frontline frigate of Italian Navy.
- Indian Navy and Vietnam People’s Navy conducted joint drills in the South China Sea as part of maritime cooperation between both the countries.
- India and the Philippines conducted a naval exercise in the South China Sea on August 23, 2021.
- “Shared Destiny-2021” : Exercise conducted by Militaries of China, Mongolia, Thailand and Pakistan.
- Navies of India and Germany conducted a joint exercise in Gulf of Aden on August 26, 2021.
Multilateral Exercise
- RIMPAC : World’s largest maritime exercise, first conducted in 1971. It is held biannually near HONULULU (USA).
- MILAN: Milan was first held in 1995. Apart from the Indian Navy, the navies of Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the inaugural edition. It is held in Andaman and Nicobar islands. The 2020 edition of Milan would have been the largest edition of the exercise with 30 foreign navies confirming their participation. However, the Indian Navy postponed the exercise in early March 2020 due to the corona virus pandemic.
- ADMM PLUS : The ADMM-Plus comprises total 18 nation participants which include ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and other 8 includes the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Russia, China, and India
- IBSAMAR : Between INDIA,BRAZIL and South African Navy
- Samvedna 2018: Samvedna 2018, the first multilateral Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise of Indian Air Force (IAF) in association with South Asian Region nations was held off the coast of Kerala. The Participating Countries are:- India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri lanka, UAE.
- MILEX-18 : First joint military exercise between BIMSTEC countries.
- PEACE MISSION : counter-terror military exercise held in the Ural mountains of Russia and all SCO member countries were participated in it. Its main aim was to enhance counter-terror cooperation among the eight SCO member countries. First time since Independence that India and Pakistan were part of a military exercise, though armies of two arch rival neighbouring countries had worked together in UN peacekeeping missions.
- Cobra Gold: Largest Asia Pacific military exercise held in Thailand every year.
- KAKDU : multilateral maritime exercise hosted by Australian Navy.
- KOMODO : Multilateral Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Exercise Conducted by Indonesian Navy.
- ARF-DiREx: It is an international disaster drill designed to promote cooperation in the field of disaster relief . It assumes large-scale disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, and conducts on-the-job and icon-based drills, such as exploration and medical support, by mobilizing national military assets.
Also refer :
- Download the pdf of Important MCQs From the History Of Ancient India
- List Of Important Inscriptions In India
- Geography Study Materials : click here.
