Indian Navy’s Largest War Game – the Biennial ‘Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX 21)’ is currently taking place at the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Operational assets of the Indian Navy as well as Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Coast Guard were participating in the Exercise.
- The exercise started in early January 2021 and is expected to end by the Third Week of February, 2021.
- The main objective of the exercise is to validate the Navy’s Offensive-Defence capabilities, safeguarding national interests in the Maritime domain and promoting stability and peace in the IOR.
- It will help in honing the warfighting skills of the force and help in keeping with the theme of being a ‘Combat Ready, Credible and Cohesive Force’.
- The conduct of TROPEX-21 is being supervised by Naval Headquarters with participation from all 3 Commands of Indian Navy & the Tri-Services Command headquartered at Port Blair.
3 Phases of the Exercise:
TROPEX 21 is being conducted in 3 phases. It is being done phases to test Indian Navy’s transition from peacetime to hostilities.
Phase I – Coastal Defence Exercise ‘Sea Vigil’:
The 2nd Edition of the Biennial Pan-India, Largest Coastal Defence Exercise ‘Sea Vigil-21’ coordinated by Indian Navy took place from January 12-13, 2021 along the entire 7516 Km coastline of India.
- Indian Air Force, Indian Coast Guard (ICG), National Security Guard (NSG), Border Security Force (BSF), oil handling agencies & airports participated in the exercise.
- The exercise was conducted to assess the Strengths and Weaknesses of India’s Coastal Defence & Maritime Security.
Phase II – Tri-Service Joint Amphibious Exercise – AMPHEX-21:
Sea Vigil-21 was followed by the Tri-Service Joint Amphibious Exercise – ‘AMPHEX-21’
- It took place from January 21-25, 2021 in the Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands.
- Defence Exercise ‘KAVACH’ for defence of Andaman & Nicobar Islands was also a part of AMPHEX-21 exercise.
- The main objective of the exercise was to validate India’s capabilities to safeguard the territorial integrity of Island Territories and increase cooperation and joint warfighting capabilities amongst the 3 services.
Phase III – Weapon Workup Phase of TROPEX:
The 3rd Phase Weapon Workup Phase of TROPEX has concluded recently.
- During the phase ‘on-target’ ordnance deliveries which included missiles, torpedoes and rockets from frontline warships, aircraft and submarines were demonstrated.
- On January 31, 2021, Indian Navy’s long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, Ilyushin 38SD successfully fired ‘Combat Kh35E’ anti-ship missile as part of TROPEX-21
- The main objective of the phase was to reaffirm the Navy’s ability to carry out long range maritime strikes in the IOR.
Recent Related News:
November 21, 2020, Phase 2 of the 24th Edition of the 4-nation Naval Exercise Malabar 2020 took place in the Arabian Sea from November 17-20, 2020. It was the First time since 2007, that all the QUAD Countries (India, United States, Japan, Australia) are participating in the Malabar Naval Exercise.
About Indian Navy:
Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) – Admiral Karambir Singh
Integrated Headquarters MoD (Navy) – New Delhi
