The Indian Navy biennial exercise, Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (Tropex), culminated this week in the Arabian Sea.
It saw participation of around 70 ships, six submarines and more than 75 aircraft.
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Covering more than 21 million square nautical miles, it is claimed to be the Indian Navy’s biggest-operational level exercise.
The exercise witnessed a host of complex drills and manoeuvres.
This four month-long exercise commenced in November 2022.
The construct of the overall exercise included coastal defence exercise ‘Sea Vigil’ as well as the amphibious exercise ‘AMPHEX’.
Tropex also saw participation from the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Coast Guard.
Indian Navy spokesperson commander Vivek Madhwal said: “Set in the Indian Ocean including the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, the theatre of operations for the exercise extended approximately 4,300 nautical miles (nm) from North to South up to 35 degree South Latitude and 5000nm from Persian Gulf in the West to North Australia coast in the East, spanning an area of over 21 million square nautical miles.”
During the final phase of the exercise, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spent a day at sea on board the newly commissioned indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant on 6 March and reviewed the Indian Navy’s operational preparedness and material readiness.
The Indian Navy had showcased operational manoeuvres and several facets of combat operations, including deck operations of indigenous light combat aircraft and live weapon firings.
This month, the Indian Navy took the delivery of a completely indigenised fuse to support its underwater anti-submarine warfare rocket guided bomb (RGB) 60.
